To: All Users

As informed by the Cybersecurity Incident Alert and Response Centre (CARIC), Google have recently issued security vulnerability about Chrome browser.  This vulnerability is widely exploited.

• Please update to Google Chrome version 125.0.6422.112/.113 (Windows/ Mac) or later, 125.0.6422.112 (Linux) or later

For more details, please refer to:  https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2024/05/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_23.html

Steps to update Google Chrome browser

• Open your Google Chrome browser on your desktop.
• Click the three vertical dots in the upper right corner to open the dropdown menu.
• Select “Settings“.
• Click “About Chrome” on the left-hand sidebar.
• Chrome will automatically check for updates or you can click the button “Update Google Chrome”.
• Restart the Chrome.

Reference

• How to download and install software in a secure manner?
• Basic Knowledge of Online Safety and Security
• Other Information Security Tips

Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact ICTO Help Desk.

ICTO Help Desk
Location : Room 2085, 2/F, Central Teaching Building (E5), eMap
Telephone : 8822 8600
email : icto.helpdesk@um.edu.mo

Information and Communication Technology Office

To: All Users

Artificial intelligence (AI) platforms provide users with a variety of powerful tools and services that can help them to accomplish a variety of tasks, from data analysis to machine learning. However, there are some security risks to be aware of when using public AI platforms.

Below are some security tips to protect your data and privacy:

1. Choose a reputable platform: Choose a platform with good reputation and research its security and compliance record.
2. Understand the platform’s privacy policy: Read the platform’s privacy policy before using it. Understand how the platform collects, uses and shares your data.
3. Be careful of what you share: Only share the data you need to complete your tasks. Avoid sharing any sensitive, confidential data, unpublished work information or research results.
4. Use strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication: Create strong passwords for your accounts and enable two-factor authentication.
5. Beware of phishing and scams: Do not click on suspicious links or enter your account information on unverified websites.
6. Keep your software up to date: Keep your operating system and AI platform software up to date.
7. Report suspicious activity: If you notice any suspicious activity, report it to the AI platform’s support team immediately.

By following these security tips, you can help protect your data and privacy while using public AI platforms. If you need further information on “AI privacy” and “Data Anonymization Processing”,  you can refer to the relevant information published by the Personal Data Protection Bureau (PDPB): https://www.dspdp.gov.mo/en/references_detail/article/kzw3p0kz.html

Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact ICTO Help Desk.

ICTO Help Desk
Location : Room 2085, 2/F, Central Teaching Building (E5), eMap
Telephone : 8822 8600
email : icto.helpdesk@um.edu.mo

Information and Communication Technology Office

To: All Users

As informed by the Cybersecurity Incident Alert and Response Centre (CARIC), Google have recently issued security vulnerability about Chrome browser.  This vulnerability is widely exploited.

• Please update to Google Chrome version 124.0.6367.201/.202 (Windows/ Mac) or later, 124.0.6367.201 (Linux) or later

For more details, please refer to: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2024/05/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_9.html

Steps to update Google Chrome browser

• Open your Google Chrome browser on your desktop.
• Click the three vertical dots in the upper right corner to open the dropdown menu.
• Select “Settings“.
• Click “About Chrome” on the left-hand sidebar.
• Chrome will automatically check for updates or you can click the button “Update Google Chrome”.
• Restart the Chrome.

Reference

• How to download and install software in a secure manner?
• Basic Knowledge of Online Safety and Security
• Other Information Security Tips

Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact ICTO Help Desk.

ICTO Help Desk
Location : Room 2085, 2/F, Central Teaching Building (E5), eMap
Telephone : 8822 8600
email : icto.helpdesk@um.edu.mo

Information and Communication Technology Office

To: All Users

As informed by the Cybersecurity Incident Alert and Response Centre (CARIC), PuTTy recently issued security vulnerability about ECDSA private key. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to restore the private key from signed messages and public key. When they have the private key, they can forge the signature and log in to any servers using that private key.

• Please update to PuTTy  0.80 later, FileZilla 3.66.5 later, WinSCP 6.3.2 later, TortoiseGit 2.15.0 later and TortoiseSVN 1.14.6 later.

For more details, please refer to:
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2275183
https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/wishlist/vuln-p521-bias.html

Reference

• How to download and install software in a secure manner?
• Basic Knowledge of Online Safety and Security
• Other Information Security Tips

Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact ICTO Help Desk.

ICTO Help Desk
Location : Room 2085, 2/F, Central Teaching Building (E5), eMap
Telephone : 8822 8600
email : icto.helpdesk@um.edu.mo

Information and Communication Technology Office

Dear students and colleagues,

To accurately assess user satisfaction with ICTO services, we will conduct an online questionnaire survey. Your valuable feedback and suggestions are crucial to us, as they can help us continuously improve and deliver better services to meet your evolving IT needs.

We will send an invitation email to all students and colleagues, containing a unique link to the questionnaire.  The deadline for the survey is 6 May, 2024 (Monday). Please complete the questionnaire before this date to allow us to collect and analyse your opinions in a timely manner.

We sincerely appreciate your participation and support, and look forward to receiving your feedback. Let us work together to continuously improve service quality and meet your expectations!

If you have any enquiries, please feel free to email ICTO_SEC@um.edu.mo.

Information and Communication Technology Office

To: All Users

There has been a recent emergence of phishing emails impersonating university staff members. Hackers are using fraudulent email addresses to send urgent emails to colleagues or students, pretending to need immediate assistance. Their intention is to deceive recipients into responding and then carry out subsequent fraudulent activities, such as money scams or attempts to obtain account passwords.

Figure 1: Sample of Phishing Email

If you have suspicions, try to contact the sender through other reliable means for further verification, such as phone calls or text message.

Please DO NOT RESPOND to this kind of emails or provide any information to the impersonating sender. If you have any further queries, please feel free to contact our Help Desk.

Reference

• Don’t Let a Phishing Scam Reel You In
• How can I identify a phishing, fake email and websites?
• Beware of Phishing Trap

ICTO Help Desk
Location : Room 2085, 2/F, Central Teaching Building (E5), eMap
Telephone : 8822 8600
email : icto.helpdesk@um.edu.mo

Information and Communication Technology Office

To: All Users

In today’s digital environment, it is very important to ensure the security of your system. By following the below advice, you can significantly enhance the protection of your system and data.

1. Enable Strong Authentication:  Use strong password and consider other authentication mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) to add an extra layer of security when accessing your system.
2. Create an SSH Key Pair: Generate and use SSH key pairs for secure remote access. This method provides stronger encryption and authentication compared to traditional password-based authentication.
3. Keep the System Up to Date: Regularly update your system with the latest security patches and software updates. These updates often address known vulnerabilities and protect against emerging threats.
4. Remove Unnecessary Software: Minimize the attack surface by uninstalling any unnecessary or unused software. These software may contain vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers.
5. Disable Administrator Login: Disable direct administrator login (e.g., “administrator”, “admin”, ”root”) and enforce the use of individual user accounts. This helps restrict access and mitigates the risk of unauthorized access to critical system resources.
6. Check and Close Open Ports: Regularly scan your system for open ports and close any unnecessary or unused ports. Open ports can be served as entry points for attackers, so it is vital to limit their availability.
7. Enable a Firewall: Set up a firewall to control inbound and outbound network traffic. A properly configured firewall can filter malicious traffic and protect your system from unauthorized access.
8. Harden Your Linux System with SELinux or AppArmor: Implement Security-Enhanced Linux (SELinux) or AppArmor to enforce strict access controls and limit the impact of an attack on your system.
9. Security Audits: Conduct regular security audits to identify vulnerabilities, assess system configurations and ensure compliance with security policies and standards.
10. Regularly Create and Maintain Backups: Regularly back up your critical data to mitigate the impact of system failures, data loss, or ransomware attacks. Test the restoration process periodically to ensure the integrity of backup copies.

Protecting the security of system is an ongoing process. Stay informed about the latest security threats, update your security strategies, and best practices.

Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact ICTO Help Desk.

ICTO Help Desk
Location : Room 2085, 2/F, Central Teaching Building (E5), eMap
Telephone : 8822 8600
email : icto.helpdesk@um.edu.mo

Information and Communication Technology Office

To: All Users

As informed by the Cybersecurity Incident Alert and Response Centre (CARIC), Apple Inc. has recently released various security updates .  Apple WebKit may lead to arbitrary code execution when processing maliciously crafted web content and attacker can induce the victim to visit a malicious website to trigger the vulnerability.

• Please update to iOS 16.7.5, iPadOS 16.7.5, iOS 17.3, iPadOS 17.3, macOS Monterey 12.7.3, macOS Ventura 13.6.4, macOS Sonoma 14.3, Safari 17.3, tvOS 17.3, watchOS 10.3 or later version

For more details, please refer to: 
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT214056
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT214059
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT214063
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT214061
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT214058
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT214057
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT214060
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT214055

If the above products are used, users must:

• Install security updates released by Apple Inc. as soon as possible.
• Backup and test before updating.

Reference

• How to download and install software in a secure manner?
• Basic Knowledge of Online Safety and Security
• Other Information Security Tips

Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact ICTO Help Desk.

ICTO Help Desk
Location : Room 2085, 2/F, Central Teaching Building (E5), eMap
Telephone : 8822 8600
email : icto.helpdesk@um.edu.mo

Information and Communication Technology Office

To: All Users

As informed by the Cybersecurity Incident Alert and Response Centre (CARIC), Google have recently issued security vulnerabilities about Chrome browser.  This vulnerability is widely exploited.

• Please update to Google Chrome version 120.0.6099.224/225 (Windows/ Linux) or later, 120.0.6099.234 (Mac) or later

For more details, please refer to: https://chromereleases.googleblog.com/2024/01/stable-channel-update-for-desktop_16.html

Steps to update Google Chrome browser

• Open your Google Chrome browser on your desktop.
• Click the three vertical dots in the upper right corner to open the dropdown menu.
• Select “Settings“.
• Click “About Chrome” on the left-hand sidebar.
• Chrome will automatically check for updates or you can click the button “Update Google Chrome”.
• Restart the Chrome.

Reference

• How to download and install software in a secure manner?
• Basic Knowledge of Online Safety and Security
• Other Information Security Tips

Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact ICTO Help Desk.

ICTO Help Desk
Location : Room 2085, 2/F, Central Teaching Building (E5), eMap
Telephone : 8822 8600
email : icto.helpdesk@um.edu.mo

Information and Communication Technology Office