Phishing Emails and Cryptolockers

UNSW Staff, Researchers and students are constantly targeted with emails that contain dangerous content such as phishing, malware and Spam.

On an average day, around 90% of all inbound messages contain threats. UNSW IT Security has put in place controls to block these messages before they hit your inbox, and on average 2.5 million messages per day are blocked before they can do any damage. UNSW IT Security blocked over 120 million messages in the past 2 months alone.

Unfortunately these measures are not always successful and the occasional phishing email will get through the nets.

Phishing emails are designed to look like emails you would trust; either from a colleague, your bank, the police. Common phishing campaigns include a ‘call to action’ to get you to click on the link, and a ‘ticking clock’ to convince you to reply quickly. Some recent phishing campaigns have included; emails claiming to be from the ATO around tax time, emails from the Police about an overdue speeding ticket, and emails from Australia Post claiming to notify you of a parcel pickup.

If you receive an email that feels suspicious, please report it to the IT Service Centre. Do not click on any links within the email, and do not reply to the email.

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