Tips for Students

Last updated: October 10, 2024

What Does Cybercrime Have to Do with You as a UBC Student?

Cyber-attacks against individuals are more prevalent than ever before

Phishing Attacks
Identifying a Phishing Message - Claiming to be from UBC
Identifying a Phishing Message - Claiming to be from a trusted company
How to Protect Yourself
What to Do if You Suspect You Have Been the Victim of a Phishing Attack
Malware Protection and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Cybercrime is any illegal activity that involves the use of a computer or the internet. Examples include hacking, identity theft, the distribution of malware, and online fraud.

It is a real and dangerous global threat due to increased technological use. As an institution, UBC is a high-value target under constant attack by cybercriminals.

Cyber-attacks against individuals are more prevalent than ever before. Some students have been scammed out of thousands of dollars, and others have had their identities stolen. You may have already fallen victim to an attack without even knowing it!

Understand how to keep yourself safe online, and what to do if you suspect you've been a victim of cybercrime.

Phishing Attacks Phishing Attacks

The most common form of cybercrime is a phishing attack. A criminal will try to steal your personal information including passwords, account numbers, Social Insurance Number, and more through an email, text message, or voice message. If successful, a criminal can gain access to your email, bank, or other accounts. They may even sell your information online.

Cybercriminals send these personalized emails to one person or sometimes a few people who share a connection.

While UBC faculty and staff do communicate with UBC students regarding part-time and full-time employment opportunities, cybercriminals are actively looking to exploit this interaction through fraudulent job postings and internship scams.

Many of these spear phishing scams can be difficult to detect and are especially dangerous because of the patience and detail that go into them. Criminals can pose as legitimate contacts and try to gain access to your bank account details or other personal information.

Signs that a message is a scam, even if it looks like it comes from a company you know:

How to Protect Yourself

Student walks along Main Mall at UBC Vancouver

What to Do if You Suspect You Have Been the Victim of a Phishing Attack

Malware Protection and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

Malware protection software is an important tool to help prevent cyberattacks.

UBC’s Information Security Standard U7 requires that personally-owned computing devices used for University Business have up-to-date malware protection software installed at all times and configured to update at least once daily. University Business means activities in support of the administrative, academic, and research mandates of the University.

Malware protection software cannot prevent every type of cyberattack, but it can be a great asset when trying to prevent computer intrusion.

What do you need to do?

To protect your computer against malware, you must manually install your own anti-malware software.

Below is a list of some popular no-cost anti-malware/antivirus programs. This list is by no means exhaustive as there may be other antivirus programs that will work for your system that are not listed.

This list is provided as a reference only as UBC IT at both the Vancouver and Okanagan campuses cannot provide support for these products.

Popular free programs

Note: When installing your own software, ensure it is purchased/downloaded from a reputable source, and that the following features are enabled:

Regular updates with new signature files;
Scanning for all files;
Real-time protection;
Scheduled system scans; and
Alerting.

Note: Running multiple EDR products simultaneously is strongly discouraged. These solutions are designed to have deep visibility and control over an endpoint's activity. Deploying multiple EDRs can lead to conflicts, causing unexpected behaviour, reduced system performance, and difficulty in isolating the source of alerts. Additionally, some EDR products, upon installation, will automatically disable native antivirus solutions like Windows Defender. This is because EDRs often incorporate their own antivirus functionality, ensuring no competition arises that could hinder threat detection.

Other Valuable Security Steps

While having malware protection software is an important step in keeping your computer protected, there are still some other things that you can do to keep your computer safe.

Please see the I Want to… and Resources sections for further information.

Go Further...

UBC IT Resources for Students

Monitor ALL financial transactions carefully	Get into the habit of regularly logging into your financial services (bank, credit card, PayPal, etc.) using your credentials. If you find that you cannot log in using your known credentials, then you should assume that the account is compromised and contact the fraud department of that service immediately.
Enable Identity Alerts	Place an Identity Alert on your Equifax Credit Report (note that a Fraud Alert is only available to confirmed victims of identity theft or fraud), and also place a Potential Fraud Alert with TransUnion
Ensure that all of your online services have the available maximum-security settings enabled.	Many services—including social media—offer extra security by requiring two or more credentials to log into your account, such as an additional one-time passcode sent to your phone. This is called multi-factor authentication. Multi-factor authentication makes it harder for criminals to log into your accounts even if they obtain your username and password.
Set your social media profile to private so that it can be seen by your friends only	Don’t publish your phone number on any of your social media profiles and limit the amount of personal information you post online, like your birthday, home address, elementary school name, or your pet’s name. Learn what to do if your social media has been compromised.
Secure your WhatsApp conversations	Enable end-to-end encryption and other privacy and security features.
Don’t allow online shopping websites to “remember” your credit card or PayPal details.	If the criminal can access your online shopping history, don’t make it easy for them to see what financial institutions you belong to.
Don't use apps to sign into other apps	The fraudster would only need to log into one account to gain access to all connected apps.
Protect your password(s)	Don’t use the same passwords or usernames across multiple accounts. Always create a strong, unique password for your important accounts.
Don’t click on links or attachments in suspicious emails or text messages.	Remember that UBC, CRA, and financial institutions will never send you an email or call you on the phone and ask you to disclose personal information, such as your password, credit or debit card number, or your mother’s maiden name.
Protect your devices	Keep your operating system and software up to date. Weaknesses in systems and software that are not up-to-date are vulnerable. Always use anti-malware programs (antivirus) on your computer. Many are free or very inexpensive.
Back up your data	Computer hard drives can crash, computers and phones can be lost or stolen, food and drink can be spilled on laptops, and software viruses or malware can delete your files. Be sure to back up your data regularly. Test the backups every few months to check that you can recover your data.
Protect your personal information	Here is a helpful guide to follow to protect your personal information.
Destroy and dispose of your physical mail properly	Never recycle or throw away letters or financial information with any personal information on it without shredding or removing and destroying the personal information first. Did you know that Amazon Canada prints your full name, address, and phone number on all parcels? Ensure this is removed and destroyed before the packaging goes into your recycling.
Contact your cellphone provider and ensure that you have “Port Protection” enabled on your account.	This will mean that a number cannot be “ported” before further verification with the account holder. This may delay legitimate account changes but will provide more security when your cellphone has been listed as your second factor of authentication. This can be done through your provider directly.

Change affected passwords	Change your compromised password right away. If it was your CWL, you can change your Campus-Wide Login (CWL) using CWL myAccount. Update all your accounts to use strong and unique passwords. Consider using passphrases made of four or more random words and 15 or more characters for extra security.
Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA)	Multi-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security to your accounts and devices. This makes it harder for cybercriminals to access your data, even if they steal your password. Links for enabling multi-factor authentication on social media accounts: Instagram X (Twitter) Facebook Google (including YouTube) LinkedIn
Call your financial institution	If you share any financial information, like a credit card number, contact your bank. You can recover lost finances and prevent any further losses while monitoring your transactions.
Consider deleting your inactive accounts	If criminals gain access to your accounts, they can send phishing links to your contact list. Deleting or suspending your inactive accounts may prevent this.
Check your device for viruses or other malware	If there was a suspicious link or attachment in the email, install anti-malware software and scan your device for viruses that may have been downloaded.
Report the incident	Contact the RCMP’s non-emergency line: Vancouver - 604.224.1322 Okanagan - 250-765-3549 If you feel your identity was compromised contact the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: 1-888-495-8501

Tips for Students

What Does Cybercrime Have to Do with You as a UBC Student?

Cyber-attacks against individuals are more prevalent than ever before

Phishing Attacks Phishing Attacks

Identifying a Phishing Message - Claiming to be from UBC

Signs that a message is a scam, even if it looks like it comes from a person you know

Identifying a Phishing Message - Claiming to be from a trusted company

Signs that a message is a scam, even if it looks like it comes from a company you know:

How to Protect Yourself

Take These Precautionary Steps

What to Do if You Suspect You Have Been the Victim of a Phishing Attack

Simple steps to recover and secure your accounts and devices

Malware Protection and Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR)

What do you need to do?

Popular free programs

Other Valuable Security Steps

Go Further...

Privacy Matters @ UBC

About UBC

UBC Campuses

UBC Sites