Cybersecurity News Resources

Jul 6, 2022: Safe and Secure Online – Young Adults

Blue Ridge provided a group of high school students enrolled in the Henderson County Early College program a free “Safe and Secure Online” presentation. This presentation addressed online threats facing young adults, covering topics such as online bullying, social media safety, and online scams that target young adults.

Jun 22, 2022: Safe and Secure Online – Seniors Edition

Blue Ridge Community College hosted a free “Safe and Secure Online” presentation for local area senior citizens in partnership with the Blue Ridge Center for Lifelong Learning. The presentation was developed by the nationally recognized Center for Cyber Safety and Education. It provided specific tips to secure personal information, and shared insight into a variety of common online scams targeting seniors.

December 15, 2021 : Protecting Your Business in the Digital Age Presentation

The Chief Information Officer of Blue Ridge Community College held a free online presentation for local area small businesses. This online event offered an overview of the current threat landscape facing small businesses and provided guidance to owners on specific steps they should take to protect their businesses from common cyber threats.

Nov 22, 2021: Annual Cybersecurity Awareness Training

Over the past year, cybercrime such as ransomware attacks have disrupted organizations around the world. Cybercriminals have been increasingly targeting schools such as Blue Ridge CC. Although we employ a lot of methods to protect our systems, it is up to each of us to ensure we aren’t falling for a trick that the criminals can then use to disrupt our technology.

To help you do your part, Blue Ridge has launched our annual “KnowBe4” Cybersecurity awareness training. This training can be completed online, at your own pace. The training consists of three short modules and will generally take about 30 minutes to complete.

Oct 18, 2021: Important Cybercrime information for Blue Ridge Community College students

Within the past month (October 2021), several of your fellow students at our sister North Carolina Community Community Colleges fell victim to identity theft after applying to fake online job postings. Most identity theft victims spend hundreds of dollars, and dozens of hours trying to rectify actions that were fraudulently done in their name. In fact, some victims find they are unable to attain a desired job because of fraudulent activity that is associated with their identity. Please take a few moments to review the information provided in the links from the FBI and U.S. Federal Trade Commission below regarding current identity theft scams that are targeting college students like yourself right now.

We also strongly encourage you to review this short, informative, and free Cybersecurity Awareness course. This course is only available through the end of October so please set aside some time soon to take a look.

Other Online Resources:

Sep 28, 2021: Multi-factor authentication

reduce the risk that our critical IT systems become compromised due to a cybersecurity threat, BRCC’s Internet accessible systems commonly used by employees to require multi-factor authentication (aka 2-step login verification).

Apr 3, 2021: Practice Good Cybersecurity Hygiene at work and at home

As we adjust to new technologies and new working habits, please be sure you are practicing good cybersecurity hygiene.

Critical Cybersecurity Hygiene Guidance:

1. Be weary of malicious emails and websites.
Please be aware that malicious actors are taking advantage of current events to trick you into clicking a link to a malicious website or downloading an email attachment. For example, one widely disseminated scam claims to be a “corona-virus-map(dot)com” website.
Please be suspicious, vigilant and careful when clicking on links in an email, downloading attachments, and when visiting websites.

2. Keep your Software Up-To-Date with updates.
Regularly apply Operating System Updates on all of your devices including your Windows or Macintosh computers as well as your Apple iPhone or Android-based smartphone.

3. Use Strong Passwords.

  • Use strong passwords for your BRCC and other accounts.
  • Do not use your Blue Ridge Community College account password for any other unrelated account.
  • Regularly change your password — about every 3 months — when prompted.

4. Use a modern web browser that is up-to-date.
Use common web browsers such as Firefox, Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari and allow them to regularly install updates

5. Use antivirus software.
Microsoft Windows has very effective antivirus software that is built into the operating system called Windows Defender. Although MacOS does not come with antivirus software, it is recommended that you install antivirus software. Avast for Mac, and MalwareBytes for Mac are effective free options.