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Keeping safe online

Keeping safe online
Keeping safe online

Tips to help keep you, your email and your other data, safe and secure online.

For free expert advice on how to stay safe online, go to getsafeonline.org. Here you will find details information regarding your passwords, phishing and scam emails, fraud and much more.

University of Southampton ServiceLine emails to staff

All University emails from ServiceLine when opened using the Outlook icon on your desktop will display the following image:

ServiceLine emails will display this image
ServiceLine emails will display this image

Phishing and scam emails

Some emails are sent to try to trick you into revealing passwords, or other information about yourself such as bank details. Remember we will never ask for your password.

Spam emails may feature some of the following warning signs:

 

 

Two recent examples of scam emails sent to University staff from a soton.ac.uk email address can be found below:

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Here are a few tips to help reduce your chance of receiving spam and phishing emails:

  1. Do not use your university email account to sign up to 3rd party services (mailing lists, online retailers etc…) If you do, make sure you check to see that your email address will not be automatically passed to 3rd parties
  2. Only list your email address on public facing websites if absolutely necessary
  3. Never reply to spam
  4. Never enter personal information on screen or web pop-ups

There are also things you can do to deal with the phishing emails you receive:

  1. Go to www.subscribe.soton.ac.uk – sign in to manage your account - Choose an option for spam deletion and increase the filter
  2. Within outlook, add the address to the block a sender list (this will not work for emails sent from a university email address): Block a mail sender
  3. Create a rule based on key words in the subject or body of the email to filter emails out: Manage email messages by using rules

Why might it appear that the University is sending out phishing/spam emails?

 This would for be for two reasons either:

  1. a soton.ac.uk email address has been spoofed. If it is fraudulent address, when you click reply, the recipient address will change from the spoofed @soton.ac.uk address to something different.
  2. a member of the University has fallen victim of a phishing email and has handed their personal information over to a third party. This third party are then exploiting this email account and are sending mass emails to all contacts within the University and externally.

Further information on spam and scam emails can be found here: Spam and scam emails

Copyright

By connecting to the University network, you are agreeing to the University’s terms and conditions of internet browsing which includes information on breaching copyright. The Conditions of Use states:

This does not include any activities which:

Are illegal

This includes breaching copyright by making any copies of, or providing for copying, any copyrighted electronic works (such as music, films, TV or radio programs) without the consent of the copyright owner. This includes downloading and sharing. A work that is available to be copied does not mean it is available legally.

Breach any University Regulations

All use is subject to the University regulations, to which all University members have agreed to abide by; these include the regulations for Use of Computers, Voice, Data and the Internet.

Interfere with the normal operation of University services

Deliberate or accidental use that results in:

Note: Certain types of software can disrupt the operation of the network. These include but are not limited to peer to peer file sharing programs, media streaming applications(used for watching TV online), computer viruses.

In cases of any use that is illegal, a breach of University regulations or unreasonable:

If necessary these measures may be taken without warning to users:

Other notes:

[1] If you attach wireless devices to the Halls network points then:

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