Cyber-attacks on organisations in Australia, including the targeting of universities, have steadily increased over the last few years. A recent attack on Australian Universities actually succeeded in disrupting the start of the semester. These attacks are increasing and becoming more sophisticated year on year.

UNE has a program underway to improve the security of our systems and reduce the risk. This cannot be done with technology alone. Your help is needed to ensure UNE systems remain secure.

The IT Support Team and the UNE Security Team has been dealing with an enormous number of phishing attacks on the organisation in the past months. Your account may have been compromised and you don’t know it – changing your password will deal with this.

If your account has been compromised you leave yourself open to further attack and will be putting the entire University at risk.

Cyber security cuts across so many parts of our lives and using the same password at work as your personal accounts, such as your banking, can put your UNE as well as your personal information at risk.

Keeping your password up to date and safe plays a key role in keeping our systems safe for everyone.

• Staff must change their password every 6 months as a minimum and this should not be the same as one you have used in the past.
• Staff can reset their UNE passwords using change password or call IT Support on 02 6773 5000.

Current recommendation is to create a ‘PassPhrase’ that is easy to remember but is long and complex enough to deter anyone trying to guess or crack it. For example:

Think of a sentence or phrase:

         New South Wales Blues for the State of Origin-2021- can become NSWB4SoO-2021
                      Or
         I’m happiest when running – can become I’mh@pP!e5twhEnrunniN9

Moving Forward

UNE has teamed up with LastPass to bring you a secure password Manager. Not only will LastPass can securely store and autofill all your passwords, as well as generate strong, unique passwords for all your accounts.

As a UNE employee, you’ll enjoy all the benefits of LastPass, including:

One-click Access	All the apps, services, and websites you use live in one simple, convenient portal.
Password Storage	You can save any password and LastPass will fill it when you return to the website.
Access Anywhere	No matter where you work, your logins will be synced for you.
And More	From generating new passwords to giving you a password security score, LastPass helps you finally get organised and take control of your password security in a way that is simple and convenient.

Want to know more?

• Check out the IT Services for Staff LastPass webpage getting you started or the LastPass Resource Centre.  LastPass – University of New England (UNE)
• Contact the IT Service Desk if you need assistance at our service portal UNE IT Service Portal – UNE IT Service Portal (service-now.com) or via email at servicedesk@une.edu.au

Multi-Factor Authentication

UNE is also moving towards the introduction of Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) which will further reduce the vulnerabilities that are represented through the use of Passwords.

Questions and comments can be sent to Manager IAM Services – Stewart Hayes on shayes31@une.edu.au.