Malicious programs are a constant nuisance in Oamk. Infected devices are difficult to detect and correct.

ICT Services is constantly working to find and correct infected machines. Very often, it is found that the device has been contaminated as a result of user operations. Different firewalls, virus scanners, or any other technical things will not help if the user installs the malware itself, at the same time, risking not only their own but also the security of other devices on the same network segment. This applies also to home computers, in which the users use their Oamk accounts in web-based services and VPN.

For all information technology device users should be clear:

• • Do not click and look unfamiliar and apocryphal web links that comes, for example, to your e-mail.
  • Do not drive macros of files you receive (Excel, Word, PDF, etc.).
  • Do not log in to strange pages with your Oamk credentials. (Please check the URL: scam sites usually look a lot like the right pages.)
  • Do not run files or install programs to PC for what you receive for example Via e-mail (screen savers, exe-files, etc.).
  • Keep your computer operating system and firmware versions always so new as possible and remember to restart the device after updates.
  • Antivirus programs are now clearly outnumbered and recognize really weakly variety of malicious software: Firewalls and virus scanners are only scribbles that will help a little, but are not able to protect against false practices. Depending on the sources, it is estimated that even the best antivirus programs, can find only 50% of the malware. Malicious programs are currently in the world and also in Oamk’s number one security threat. Especially now, when viruses locking access to files are becoming more common, this threat should be taken seriously.

Scam Sites look the same as the right pages – You avoid the problem when you do not click around any of the links and be careful in what your browser address bar displays.

For example, in January 2015 we ended up as a victim to an automated scam campaign where multiple e-mail addresses received a phishing message written in bad Finnish (machine translated), which took to Oamk’s intranet look-a-like login page. If someone has entered this page and tried to log into the intranet, a username and a password has ended up in the wrong hands.

-> Links in phishing messages should not ever be opened. Please be careful with your IT equipment when working!

Take a look at information security tips for preventing malware with anti-virus softwares.

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