During periods of local, national, or global crises — global pandemic (i.e. COVID-19) or natural disaster (i.e. Hurricane Sandy), etc. — and other global events (like the Olympics), threat actors are hard at work taking advantage of vulnerable individuals, systems, and government resources for financial, political or other gain. Unfortunately, these national or global events provide opportunities for threat actors to employ various cyber threat strategies from ransomware to social engineering. These attack methods allow them to gain access to passwords, networks and other data or systems that lead to theft, fraud, or other undesirable outcomes like healthcare interruptions or power outages.
With these issues in mind, the Office of Information Technology encourages all members of our community to exercise caution to avoid scams and report cyber threats that seek to exploit any global or national crises.
The Federal Trade Commission, FBI, and Center for Internet Security are a few of the trusted sources that regularly report various scams and cyber threats currently being exploited against the public and private sectors. Below you will find some examples of current scams to be aware of, and the ways in which you can report these scams at Rutgers.
How to report cyber threats
Whether you are working at the University or working/learning remotely, it is important to report any suspected scams, breaches, or theft to the appropriate parties as soon as possible to avoid additional impact. Learn how to report and what actions you should take.
Additional resources
Always utilize approved university IT resources and/or equipment when conducting university business.
Below is a listing of the various technology resources from Rutgers that should be utilized by faculty, staff and students.
- Technology Tools for Faculty
- Technology Resources for Students
- Technology Resources for Working Remotely
- IT Policies
- Reporting Suspected Scams, Breaches, or Theft
- Information Security Office website
- Digital Resources for Information Security Compliance and Awareness
*The information on this page was developed by the Office of Information Technology information security team.