A Helping Hand to "Work Securely Wherever"

Seeing students and colleagues back on campus, I am especially enjoying this fall 2021 term!  October means Halloween and National Cyber Security Awareness Month, but my mind is already jumping ahead to Thanksgiving.

As an information security professional, I'm honestly thankful to have the opportunity to work in cyber security here at Pepperdine, of all places.  My team and I will tell you that we can always get a hearing from faculty and administration on security matters, because they are so invested in our students' well-being.  The same is true of our faculty and staff who do their best to comply with security best practices, and the supervisors who regularly bring security tips and guidelines back to their teams.   While an emphasis on security has grown across higher education and all organizations in recent years, Pepperdine remains exceptional by comparison. Thank you!

On the occasion of October being National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), I'd like to share some tips and news that the entire community can use:

First, ISO has a video library of short videos on a variety of cyber security skills for various situations.  Please have a look at the playlist and log in for a few videos that seem relevant to you:

Cyber Security Short Training Videos

(Pepperdine sign in required)

Next, our theme for this month is "Work Securely Wherever."  IT provides students, staff, and faculty with a suite of secure collaboration tools and information about them.  Please have a look at the list below to make sure you are acquainted with all the various tools.

Work Securely Wherever

(tools and tips list)

Finally, as most of you are aware by now, Pepperdine has increased its minimum password length requirement and is encouraging students to join their faculty and staff by securing their accounts with our multi-factor authentication system. Learn more about this system by watching the two-minute video using this link:

SecureConnect

(powered by Duo)

SecureConnect users receive a four-year password life cycle.  For detailed information, please see the Pepperdine Community website announcement and FAQ for more detail about this change.

If you have questions about cyber security skills and tools at Pepperdine University, please give us a call at 310.506.4040.

Thankfully,
Kim Cary
Chief Information Security Officer