Email is an excellent and efficient means of communication but it must be used responsibly, and you need to be alert to the risk posed by phishing & spam emails.
There is a risk of data breaches when you send emails, either through selecting the wrong people, attaching the wrong document, leaving confidential data in the attachments, or by people being able to see who else has received the email. Before you press Send you must check:
It is really important that all actual or suspected security breaches are immediately reported.
We are all deluged by email, so be considerate when you send emails.
While the University employs several layers of security and filtering, scammers are constantly updating and evolving their techniques to bypass these. Learn how to spot phishing emails.
You need to be suspicious by default of any email that contains an attachment, link, button, or where you are urged to respond quickly.
Attachments and webpages can carry programs that infect your computer, steal or corrupt data, or spy on you.
Links and buttons in an email may take you to a login webpage that appears to be genuine but is controlled by the scammer allowing them to harvest your username and password for future attacks.
You need to be cautious even if the email appears to be from someone you know, and the subject of the email is something you've been discussing.
A scammer may have gained access to the sender's account (in which case they'll have access to previous emails and contacts), or they may be using a technique that makes their email appear to be from someone you know or from a utility, company or bank.