Main menu (IT)

CSUN Spam Prevention

CSUN continues to be a target for spam and phishing scams. On average, CSUN's anti-spam systems block 80-90% of all unwanted email destined for faculty and staff. Trickier to catch however are phishing scams, which attempt to lure faculty and staff into clicking on suspicious URLs and sharing passwords and other private information. Faculty and staff are encouraged to remain vigilant when responding to email and never share their passwords or click on suspicious URLs. If in doubt, verify before clicking

Anti-Spam Protection

Currently, email sent to and from CSUN is protected by Microsoft's Forefront anti-spam and anti-virus services, reducing the quantity of spam delivered to faculty and staff. This system also protects the outside accounts from spam that is generated by compromised CSUN email accounts. This added layer of protection dramatically reduces the risk of CSUN email being blocked by universities and other organizations as a result of one or more CSUN email accounts being compromised

How to Identify an Email Phishing Scam

Proper identification of phishing scams remains the best weapon above all anti-spam technology solutions. Spammers will divert energy elsewhere if CSUN becomes more work than profit. To identify phishing messages, look for the following characteristics:

Identifying an email phishing scam 
 Remember... Clues  Description

P

Private data is demanded

Demand that you share your password 

H

Hyperlinks or attachments do not look right

When hovering over the csun.edu/webmail hyperlink does not match

I

Inaccurate or poorly worded

Look for obvious grammar, spelling and punctuation errors

S

Suspicious sender

If you don't recognize the sender, don't trust the email

H

Hurry up and respond

Gives a sense of urgency with the threat to restrict access to your account

Questions

Contact the IT Help Center or visit IT Security.