November 30 deadline approaches for required participation in online information security training presentations, SecureUGA

Office of the Chief Information Officer Press Release
The University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

WRITER: Bert DeSimone, 706/338-9849, bert@uga.edu
CONTACTS: Sandi Glass, executive director of the College of Education Office of Information Technology and CIO Advisory Council Chair, 706/542-1194, slglass@uga.edu, and Brian Rivers, director of Security, Network Operations, and Infrastructure, EITS, 706/542-0325, brivers@uga.edu

ATHENS, Ga.— SecureUGA, which was officially launched April 2 in a memo from UGA's three senior vice presidents, is an information security education and awareness program that includes mandatory, self-paced, online awareness presentations. All faculty and staff at UGA are required to complete the first four of these presentations by November 30.

The secure.uga.edu Web site offers awareness presentations, including "Security in the Workplace"

"All faculty, administrators, and staff, including student workers, are required to complete four awareness modules by November 30, 2008," said Sandi Glass, director of the College of Education Office of Information Technology and CIO Advisory Cabinet Chair. "Compliance with this requirement will be sent in a report to all deans and unit heads after the November 30 deadline."

Glass went on to say that everyone, including all students, will benefit greatly from the presentation modules. At this time, student participation is not required but strongly encouraged.

The required modules can be accessed via the SecureUGA Website:

secure.uga.edu

After connecting to the Web site, click on the following link to begin:

Please continue to the Role Based Security Awareness Presentations.

After logging in with a MyID and password, the modules will be presented.

The four modules required for completion by November 30 are:

Security in the Workplace
Your Role in SecureUGA
What is Sensitive Data?
Securing Portable Electronic Devices

Each module should take less than 5 minutes to complete. It is not necessary to do all the modules at one time.

"In addition to the four required modules, there are a number of others that include important information related to information security at UGA," said Brian Rivers, director of Security, Network Operations, and Infrastructure for EITS. "The module E-Mail and Web Security, for example, provides excellent information on avoiding phishing scams."

The additional modules will be required in 2009, according to Rivers, who also said that although no firm deadline for these additional modules has been set, everyone is encouraged to take them at their earliest convenience and will receive full credit toward compliance with future participation requirements.

Problems encountered during access or use of the modules should be reported to the EITS Help Desk: helpdesk@uga.edu / 706-542-3106.

About SecureUGA
SecureUGA (secure.uga.edu) is a role based security training and accountability model in which every individual, regardless of position, has a responsibility to protect our sensitive and critical data. SecureUGA is comprised of three components: policy and procedures, technology, and people. Policy sets the foundation to guide our process and action. Technological enhancements will build strong systems and infrastructure. The third and most important component, people, will be addressed via awareness, training, and education.

About the Office of the CIO and EITS
The Office of the Chief Information Officer and Enterprise Information Technology Services (EITS) are committed to the mission of UGA as a land-and-sea-grant institution where academics come first and the research extensive university community encourages research efforts at the undergraduate and graduate levels. To that end, under the direction of the University´s Chief Information Officer, EITS endeavors to provide a robust, reliable, and secure information technology infrastructure, maintain essential production services, and offer world-class support.

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