There are an ever increasing number of "phishing" and other malicious emails as so always be on guard. Phishing emails attempt to acquire information from you and other malicious emails may pose a risk to your computer and the information stored on it. Note that sometimes these emails come from someone you know. (Their email may have been hacked or someone is "faking" the "from" address.)
An example of a phishing email is one that indicates a document has been shared with you. When you click on a link provided in the email, you are prompted to enter your email address and password. Other malicious emails often have links in them as well trying to get you to click on them which results in malicious software being downloaded to your computer.
Here are some general guidelines for protecting yourself and the school:
- Don't open email from people you don't know.
- Never click on a link in an email unless you were expecting the email (e.g. you just signed up for an account with a company and they are sending you an email with a link to confirm your email address).
- Hover over a link first before clicking on it. The actual destination of the link will be displayed in the lower-left corner of most browsers so you can tell if the destination looks suspicious. (For example, a link to a Google Doc should point to a google.com domain).
- Think twice before providing any information after clicking on a link in an email.
If you ever provide your email address and password when you are not sure you should have, change your email password immediately.