Friday 04 June, 2021

Kia ora koutou

Whakaūria te mahi tahi; ukaukatia te mātauranga. He Kaitiaki katoa tātau.

We are all Kaitiaki (guardians), tasked with maintaining beneficial relationships and work methods, and sustaining the knowledge we work with.

We’re introducing new cyber security features to keep our digital information safe. In many cases, you won’t experience any difference, but there are a few things you’ll need to do as we launch these new email and authentication features.

Increase in cyber attacks

Over the past 12 months, New Zealand has been exposed to a number of high-profile cyber-attacks which have affected several national organisations. Most recently, we have witnessed the impact of the cyber attack on the Waikato DHB, which has shut down parts of their operation for nearly two weeks, impacting patient care and the privacy of patient data.

Globally, cyber security attacks are increasing in both frequency and complexity.

Unitec’s Information Technology (IT) team has been assessing the state of our own IT security and we’re currently working through a number of initiatives to strengthen that security. Some of these initiatives will be launched over the next few weeks.

Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

You may already be familiar with this security feature as most banks require MFA to be set up for online transactions. MFA works by texting a code to your phone which you’ll need to enter to gain access. This confirms you are the person identified against that account. All that’s required is a mobile phone – either your work or personal phone.

We are rolling this out for Office 365 when it is used outside of Unitec’s campuses. When you’re off-campus and using your laptop, phone or other Unitec device, you’ll be asked to complete the MFA process before you can access your emails, the Nest and other Office 365 features.

MFA is launching at Unitec on Monday 14 June, 2021. We’ve put together some instructions to help you understand this process - please set yourself up for MFA prior to the launch day.

Enhanced Email protection

Emails with virus-infected attachments or links are a big risk for organisations. To reduce this risk we are launching Email Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) which scans all attachments and links in emails that are sent to Unitec mailboxes.

When a message contains a clickable image or text, the original address of the link will be replaced with a safe link. As the email arrives in your inbox, ATP will begin scanning the attachment(s). You’ll notice that you can read the message body immediately, but the attachment(s) won't be completely available until the safety scan is complete – this will usually only take a few seconds. Read further information about ATP.

ATP is launching at Unitec on Monday 7 June, 2021.

Phishing email protection

We have also increased the detection of potential phishing emails – these are spam emails that contain unsafe documents or links. If a phishing email is detected, it will be transferred to your junk folder. The item will not be deleted, but you’ll only see it if you check your junk folder. If you’re expecting an email and it doesn’t arrive, please check your junk folder in case it has been mistaken for a phishing email.

Always be aware of cyber security

Our team is doing what we can to prevent cyber attacks at Unitec. However, one of the most important preventative measures is staff awareness. Our new tools will detect most phishing and infected mail but there is always a small chance that new phishing emails will make their way through. Please be aware of the traits of phishing emails and take the appropriate actions if you suspect a phishing email.

Over the coming months we will be making further changes to increase our IT security and I look forward to sharing these details as with you as they are ready to be deployed.

If you have any questions about these new security features, please contact us on the IT helpdesk on ext 8484.
 

Ngā mihi

Hamish Martin
Director – Information Technology