Dominican's User Policy, Scammers, the Myth of Protection

 

I have always found privacy and safety issues regarding the Internet fascinating. Are things truly private or safe when it comes to the Wild West of social media? I'm skeptical as someone practically raised on social media and the Internet. It is a strange, mythical creature that will crash and burn if someone pours gasoline on it. Even with VPNS and protection from hackers, a part of me is still nervous about how open the online world can be. It may be because I'm a relatively private person, but the idea of someone being able to access my computer and everything on it terrifies me. Luckily, plenty of places like Dominican provides 

When logging into Dominican's wifi, there are two options: DU Wireless and DU Guest. Depending on whether you want more privacy or not, students can either pick the less secure DU Guest wifi or the more private DU Wireless. I fluctuate between the two, depending on my mood. Do I want people to have the capacity to see what I'm working on, or do I want the safety of the university? The choice is mine. 

Dominican University's User Policy is interesting, to say the least. It includes plenty of things students shouldn't do. For instance, there are a couple of pages telling students that scamming, fraudulent behavior, and harassment are not acceptable. The second and third pages show how small the "Acceptable Use" paragraph is compared to the "Violations of Acceptable Use" list. There isn't any mention of AI, which is concerning because AI usage is growing rapidly. Also, this User policy does not apply to staff and faculty. They have their own user policy, so I would like to know if they have different rules for guests and students. One thing I would change is how I discuss AI usage. AI usage among students is growing, and we must be prepared for AI to be used to harm or help people. Dominicans should provide protection against AI. Another aspect of the policy I would change is that there aren't any conversations about phishing or scammers. I see plenty of emails about phishing, but I don't see a paragraph about phishing in Dominican's User Policy. 

Dominican's User Policy 

Dominican's User Policy 

    When we think of phishing or scammers, we think of emails that beg and plead for money or scammers who say they're princes from another country. We think, "That can't happen to me" because who would try to scam someone raised by the online world? It's easy to believe that we're somehow better than people who are victims of phishing, that we're above the ones who clicked on that grammatically incorrect email asking for your personal information. Common Phishing Attacks and How to Protect Against Them mentions that phishing is one of the most common data breach vectors, so even if you think that you are safe and protected, there is still a possibility that a phishing scam can steal your data. 

One of the most devious is Angler phishing. Angler phishing occurs when someone hacks a social media account and asks for people's personal data. I can think of a few people who will do that for their favorite celebrity or a person they like. It sounds ridiculous, but we shouldn't take those things lightly. 

So, the next time you see an email that looks fishy, tell someone about it. You don't want to be a fish caught on a hook.