College Student's Computer Hacked - Take Precautions

One of our own students was recently the victim of a cyber attack on their personal computer.  A cyber criminal was able to get remote control access of the student's computer, and harass both the student with extortion messages, and group members in a Blackboard session in real time.  The student wisely called the Helpdesk but the incident will at best cause significant work to recover from the event.  Minimally the student will need to clean their computer of malware requiring technical expertise, and the Helpdesk has temporarily disabled the student's login account to prevent additional harm.   However, there is a chance that the student's other login accounts (banking, social media, etc.) may be compromised, requiring additional mitigations.

This incident serves as an unfortunate reminder to all College staff and students to be diligent when receiving unsolicited messages or accessing websites in general.  Think before you click or respond with sensitive information.  Some general background tips are available at the government's cyber safe webpage

It is also a call for all staff and students to take advantage of the College license for Malwarebytes malware detection software.  It is available at no cost for your personal/home computer.  In this particular incident, Malwarebytes real time protection would likely have protected the student against the intrusion, and warned of the activity. More information is available at Malwarebytes information

Stay cyber safe all.