Right now there is an increased threat of cyber attacks at the University of Kent. As recently reported in the press, there’s been a sharp rise in attacks towards public sector/education sector organisations. These attacks have been intense and disruptive.
As the Information Services department, we’re responsible for making sure University IT services are as secure as they can be. We’re planning a programme of work and you will see changes in the coming months to the way services are secured. We also need your help to combat these threats.
Changing how you log into services
- In April all staff were required to set up Multi Factor Authentication (MFA) to access Microsoft 365 services from off campus. This will be followed by similar changes to the way VPN works.
- Student accounts will be moved onto MFA after the end of the examination period.
- Similar access changes are coming later in the year to Moodle (and Turnitin), KentVision, Staff Connect, LibrarySearch and more.
- In May, all emails sent to Kent addresses from outside the University will feature a warning message at the top, to remind you that it could be fraudulent.
Changes are being carefully planned and widely communicated. Our support staff are on hand to make sure everyone is well supported throughout.
We need your help
Please read our advice so you are armed with the knowledge to operate safely and with caution when online.
- Read and follow our Protect your devices guide
- Stay alert for very convincing fraudulent email: read our updated Email safety guide
- Staff: read and follow our Online data security guide for all staff
Why this matters
We can’t guarantee that our systems won’t be compromised and that we won’t experience considerable disruption. Sadly this has been the recent experience of a number of universities and colleges.
The University of Kent has externally-recognised strong cyber security practices in place.
With your help, we can reduce our risk further. Please use our resources to stay educated and stay alert. Thank you for playing your part.