password - phishing

Recently we've seen an increase in so called "phishing" attempts - that is, bad people out there trying to gain access to your Internet or bank account by posing as an official source, like an employee at the computer center, police, your bank, netshops, Microsoft or similar.

A general rule for passwords: NEVER GIVE AWAY YOUR PASSWORD TO ANYONE!

The IT-staff at UiT will never ask you for your password, neither by phone nor by email.

HOW DO I KNOW IF SOMEONE IS TRYING TO CON ME?

Always be a skeptic when receiving email where someone is attempting to make you give away personal information. The password you are using to log on to systems at UiT is PERSONAL. You are the only one that should know your own password. Nobody else has the right to know this! This also goes for ATM PIN-codes.

A COUPLE OF CON-MAIL EXAMPLES.

Example 1: "TO USER. Recently we've had a break in and we suspect that someone has managed to steal all our usernames and passwords. To verify this, we ask that you send us your current username and password. Yours sincerely, the computer center."

Example 2: "TO USER. Recently we've had a break in and we suspect that someone has managed to steal all our usernames and passwords. You need to change your password immediately:"link_to_a_web_page_that_looks_official_but_are_really_run_by_a_criminal"If you could go to the link above and type username in the field text field, current password in the second field and then the new password in the last field.Yours sincerely, the computer center."

If you are uncertain whether your password is known by someone else then you should immediately change it. The official place to change passwords at UiT is: https://profil.uit.no.

Questions about password change should be directed towards the "Orakel"-Helpdesk service.