Information Security

Mission Statement

The Information Security Office is committed to lowering the risk profile of the University’s electronic information by implementing industry best practices to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of student, faculty, and staff information. We uphold the University’s compliance obligations by developing information security policies, providing security awareness training, and overseeing the implementation of strategic information security initiatives.

Scam of the Week

Don't Let This Scam Bring Down the House

This week’s scam targets people who are working on home construction projects. You receive an email that claims you must pay a permit fee immediately to avoid delays with your project. The email looks real, and may even include a case number or your home address. It instructs you to pay the permit fee immediately via wire transfer, payment apps such as Venmo or Zelle, or cryptocurrency.

But you don’t actually owe any money, because this email is a scam! Scammers use public information, like your address and the names of local officials, to make their fake emails look real. Because the email arrives while you are working on a real home project, it is easy to think it is legitimate. If you follow the payment instructions, you are giving your money directly to the scammers!

Follow these tips to avoid falling victim to this phishing scam:

Don’t assume that an email is real just because it looks official. Scammers can use publicly available information to make their phishing emails even more convincing.
Legitimate government agencies will never demand immediate payment through cryptocurrency, wire transfers, or payment apps.
If you receive an unexpected invoice from what appears to be the city or county government, do not use the contact information in the email. Instead, call the agency using the official phone number listed on their website to verify any fees.

Time It Takes a Hacker to Brute Force Your Password in 2025
Hardware: 12 x RTX 5090 | Password hash: bcrypt(10)

Number of Characters	Number Only	Lowercase Letters	Upper and Lower Case Letters	Numbers, Upper and Lowercase Letters	Numbers, Upper and Lowercase Letters, Symbols
4	Instantly	Instantly	Instantly	Instantly	Instantly
5	Instantly	Instantly	57 minutes	2 hours	4 hours
6	Instantly	46 minutes	2 days	6 Days	2 weeks
7	Instantly	20 hours	4 months	1 year	2 years
8	Instantly	3 weeks	15 years	62 years	164 years
9	2 hours	2 years	791 years	3k years	11k years
10	1 day	40 years	41k years	238k years	803k years
11	1 week	1k years	2m years	14m years	56m years
12	3 months	27k years	111m years	917m years	3bn years
13	3 years	705k years	5bn years	56bn years	275bn years
14	28 years	18m years	300bn years	3tn years	19tn years
15	284 years	477m years	15tn years	218tn years	1qd years
16	2k years	12bn years	812tn years	13qd years	94qd years
17	28k years	322bn years	42qd years	840qd years	6qn years
18	284k years	8tn years	2qn years	52qn years	463qn years