Institute policy states that email accounts obtained through third parties may not be used in conducting the business of the Institute. Ensuring compliance with the Rensselaer email policy is crucial for several reasons, including regulatory security requirements, operational efficiency, and maintaining a professional image.
IT Security
Since 2004, the President of the United States and Congress have declared October to be Cybersecurity Awareness Month, helping individuals protect themselves online as threats to technology and confidential data become more common.
Please review the featured resources (in Percipio - must login with RCS id) to learn more about how to protect yourself and thank you for your ongoing commitment in helping to ensure that everyone can be safe and secure online:
Please be aware of sophisticated phishing attempts targeting our community. Do not provide your Duo codes in response to any text messages, phone calls, emails, or other communication methods. These requests are fraudulent and designed to steal your information and compromise your RCS account.
Stay vigilant and protect your account. If you receive any suspicious requests, report them immediately.
Thank you for your cooperation.
We strongly encourage the adoption of Single Sign-On (SSO) for all campus-related applications, especially those handling sensitive information. SSO provides centralized visibility and control over client access, making it easier to demonstrate compliance with regulatory requirements such as GDPR, HIPAA, and FERPA. Audit trails and logs can be generated to track user activity and access to sensitive data.
Identity theft reporting information and resources can be found at www.identitytheft.gov. We strongly recommend that all individuals take the following steps to help protect against data and identity theft.
It is crucial that ChatGPT and other generative AI tools are used with caution and do not put Rensselaer data at risk. Confidential and Internal Use data, as defined in the Information Classification policy, cannot be put into any of these tools unless a vetted contract is in place through procurement to ensure proper data security and privacy.
Additionally, all use cases should be consistent with the Cyber Citizenship Policy.
Connecting printers, copiers, and fax machines securely to Rensselaer's network is crucial to maintain the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of sensitive information. Implementing robust security measures helps mitigate potential risks associated with unauthorized access, data breaches, and network vulnerabilities.
Standards for network connectivity help to mitigate the various risks. This best practice outlines minimum standards for devices connecting to the campus network (additional requirements may apply to specific devices which have been identified as having increased risk due to network location, sensitivity of data stored/sent/received, or access to other systems):
The stance of the Information Security Office within DotCIO is that access to Rensselaer data and systems for business operations should only be through Rensselaer owned and managed devices with appropriate security controls and configurations. Please review the Information Classification Policy; by policy, personally-owned devices cannot not be used to store confidential data.
