To assist students and Alumni to more easily identify phishing emails, on Wednesday 5 May 2021, UBC Cybersecurity and UBC IT Communication & Collaboration Services implemented an External Email Security Warning Tag on all UBC Student and Alumni email accounts. The warning tag is not an indicator that the email is phishing or fraudulent. It is a reminder to verify the authenticity of the email before clicking on links, opening any attachments, or responding to the message. This change affects the following UBC email domains (i.e. email addresses ending in the following):
- @student.ubc.ca
- @alumni.ubc.ca
- @alum.ubc.ca
This implementation is an extension of the External Email Security Warning Tag which was implemented on Staff and Faculty accounts in 2020, which reads ‘CAUTION: Non-UBC Email’ to the top of emails that originate from outside the University.
We ask that Staff and Faculty log any off-campus services which they are using to distribute messaging to UBC audiences. This will enable us to provide exemptions to the external security tag for these services:
- New exemptions can be submitted via the Exemption Nomination Form (CWL login required)
- To update existing exemptions, please email the updated details to privacy.matters@ubc.ca and we will update our records (e.g. new email addresses, PIA status updates, etc.)
You can find out more about the External Email Security Warning Tag by visiting UBC Cybersecurity’s Confidential Communications Website (CWL login and privileged access to the website required)
If you have any concerns about a message or link, don't open the message or click the link. Instead, forward it as an attachment to security@ubc.ca.