Understanding the Basics of Online Safety and Security

Americans use 3,138,420 GB of internet data every minute of the day. It is safe to say that being online is now a way of life for many. Engaging in safe and secure online practices helps protect against the risks of living life on the internet.

Shopping, surfing, banking, gaming, and connecting Internet of Things devices such as toasters and refrigerators are some of the many actions performed each minute in cyberspace. These common everyday activities carry the cyber threats of social engineering to gain unauthorized access to data, identity theft, bullying, location tracking, and phishing, to name just a few. How can we decrease our risk from these cyber threats without abandoning our online activities altogether? Here are some basic online tips everyone can follow to help stay secure while online.

• Set up alerts. Consider setting up alerts on your financial accounts. Many credit card companies and banks allow you to set up alerts on your accounts via their websites. These alerts range from sending you an email or text each time a transaction happens on your account to alerts when transactions meet or exceed a designated spending limit that you set. These alerts keep you in control of your accounts' activities. These types of alerts are useful because they make you aware of what's going on with your account quicker than waiting for monthly statements. When you receive an alert about a transaction that you did not authorize, you can reach out to the credit card company or bank immediately. Log into your credit card company and banking websites to set up alerts on your accounts.
• Keep devices and apps up to date. This familiar tip is useful even if you are just casually surfing the internet. Keeping your devices up to date (including apps and operating systems) ensures you have the latest security fixes.
• Don't use public Wi-Fi. In addition to an updated device, the network the device is connected to is also important. Did you have to enter a password to connect to a Wi-Fi network? If you did, that network is more secure than an open one that any device within range can connect to. Whenever possible, use a secure network, especially when banking or shopping online.
• Consider using a VPN. VPN stands for virtual private network, and its main purpose is to provide a tunnel for encrypted internet traffic. If you are connected to the internet without using a VPN, your traffic is passed through the internet service provider's servers. The location of your device is known, and if you must connect to a public Wi-Fi network, there is a risk of snooping by other devices on the same network. Connecting to a VPN redirects your internet traffic to a remote server, encrypting the traffic, reducing the snooping risk. There are many options for VPN software today for consumers and businesses. Do your research and decide which one makes sense for your online needs.
• Create unique passwords. Here's another familiar tip. Using the same password for many sites is not a best practice. Suppose that one of your accounts suffered a data breach and your password was exposed. If you reused this password on other accounts, it's likely that someone would be able to access those accounts as well (especially if your user name is an email address). Consider using a password manager to manage all your passwords. Not only do these tools manage all your passwords, they can also create strong passwords and can even autofill your username and password as you go to websites on different browsers.
• Be vigilant. Be aware, there are fake websites out there waiting to collect your valuable information. Make sure you are on a legitimate site by double-checking the URL website address to make sure it is spelled correctly. Also make sure you see a padlock and https:// in the URL.

Remember that you are in control of your online activities. Following these security tips will give you peace of mind while online.

Be Secure Online! Refer to Manhattan College's Cyber Safety site for additional resources.

Refer to Manhattan College's Email Signature Knowledge Base Article for instructions on how to create your own email signature.

Partially reposted from: Educause 2019: Understanding the Basics of Online Safety and Security

Google Collaboration Challenge Week 4

Using Gmail at Manhattan College

Manhattan College provides a JasperNet account to all students and employees that comes with email powered by Gmail. With Gmail you can:

        1. Create and send email
Creating and sending emails is as easy as selecting Compose within Gmail. You can then specify the recipients and the subject, and begin typing the content. Once done, select Send to send the email. You can view sent mail by selecting the Sent Mail section in Gmail.

      2. Organize your inbox

You can manage and organize emails by creating labels and filters. To create a label, select Settings in the top right, and select Settings. Then select the Labels tab. Scroll to the Labels section and select Create new label. Enter the label name and select Create. You can also create nested labels, which are like subfolders. You also have the option to Star emails. You can view any starred emails in the Starred of Gmail.

      3. Search for emails

To search for specific emails, type any keywords associated with the email in the search bar found at the top of the page in Gmail. Once you have entered keywords into the search bar, any emails associated with the key words will be displayed.

      4. Create email signatures

With Gmail, you can also create Email Signatures. Manhattan College provides an email signature generator, which automatically generates email signatures for all employees using the information found on Banner.  Follow the instructions found in the Email Signature Knowledge Base Article to create a Manhattan College generated email signature.

For more helps, tips, and tricks, please see the Gmail section in the GSuite Learning Center.

Assignment: Create an email and send it to yourself or someone else.

Extra Credit: Organize your inbox by creating and applying labels.

Once you complete reviewing the materials from the fourth week of the Google Collaboration Challenge take a few minutes to answer these questions: Week 4 Google Drive Questionnaire

Google Summer Collaboration Challenge Week 4

Using Gmail at Manhattan College

Manhattan College provides a JasperNet account to all students and employees that comes with email powered by Gmail. With Gmail you can:

        1. Create and send email
Creating and sending emails is as easy as selecting Compose within Gmail. You can then specify the recipients and the subject, and begin typing the content. Once done, select Send to send the email. You can view sent mail by selecting the Sent Mail section in Gmail.

      2. Organize your inbox

You can manage and organize emails by creating labels and filters. To create a label, select Settings in the top right, and select Settings. Then select the Labels tab. Scroll to the Labels section and select Create new label. Enter the label name and select Create. You can also create nested labels, which are like subfolders. You also have the option to Star emails. You can view any starred emails in the Starred of Gmail.

      3. Search for emails

To search for specific emails, type any keywords associated with the email in the search bar found at the top of the page in Gmail. Once you have entered keywords into the search bar, any emails associated with the key words will be displayed.

      4. Create email signatures

With Gmail, you can also create Email Signatures. Manhattan College provides an email signature generator, which automatically generates email signatures for all employees using the information found on Banner.  Follow the instructions found in the Email Signature Knowledge Base Article to create a Manhattan College generated email signature.

For more helps, tips, and tricks, please see the Gmail section in the GSuite Learning Center.

Assignment: Create an email and send it to yourself or someone else.

Extra Credit: Organize your inbox by creating and applying labels.

Once you complete reviewing the materials from the fourth week of the Google Collaboration Challenge take a few minutes to answer these questions: Week 4 Google Drive Questionnaire