Re: Password Expatriation notification

["Ullman, Catherine" <cende () BUFFALO EDU>]

James,

I would whole-heartedly agree to your statement about providing emails from
IT WITHOUT links, but rather reference a known web site by name.  I think it
makes education and reinforcement of not clicking on links much easier when
IT never sends out links either.  :-)    

I expressed this sentiment just before a recent round of emails were sent
regarding password changes only to be informed that it would be "too
difficult" for the users to do and thus they wouldn't bother to change their
passwords.  While I understand that the password change is critical, I think
sending links is today a greater risk because it encourages bad behavior on
the part of the user.

I will be interested to see what others out there have to say.

Best,
Cathy


Catherine J. Ullman
Information Security Analyst
Information Security Office
University at Buffalo
cende () buffalo edu

-----Original Message-----
From: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv
[mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of James
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2010 9:23 AM
To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Password Expatriation notification

We also send our users messages like this. However I'm concerned that it
would take very little effort to copy the content, spoof the from address
and href the links so they look genuine but take them to a random web server
which is setup with a copy of our real password management system.

For this reason I think we shouldn't provide links in emails that ask a user
to login to anything, but should advise they visit our main web page (i.e.
type it in themselves) and we give them a link off that. We can then also
tag on to "we never ask for your password" that "we never link to pages that
ask for your password".

Has anyone else tackled this particularly?

Cheers
James

> -----Original Message-----
> From: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv 
> [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of Bob Bayn
> Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 2010 10:11 PM
> To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
> Subject: Re: [SECURITY] Password Expatriation notification
>
> And we also send out an email notice 14 days before expiration, and 
> again more frequently as the expiration approaches.  We have a single 
> enterprise credential for authentication to many systems, including
> email.    We try to make our notification not-phish-like but still get a
> few inquiries as to the validity of the message.  I usually 
> congratulate those paranoid souls.  At least it's better than believing
everything.
> ;-)
>
> Our message says:
>
> Firstname Lastname [UniversityID#],
>
> Our system indicates that you have not changed your password since 
> [Month day, year].
>
> Please take a few minutes to change your password and review your 
> challenge questions by going to http://password.usu.edu before [date 6 
> months later].
>
> If you do not change your password by [the latter date], you may 
> experience interruption of service on Utah State University systems. 
> You will still be able to log in at http://id.usu.edu and make your 
> password change after that date.
>
> You may also be temporarily receiving this message:
>
> 1) If you no longer attend Utah State University: You may not be 
> interested in maintaining your password with us. Just ignore these 
> messages. Once your password has expired these reminder messages will 
> terminate. If you ever need access again you can update your password 
> at http://id.usu.edu or contact the Service Desk.
>
> 2) If you have never attended Utah State University: We may have 
> assigned you an account in conjunction with a high school concurrent 
> enrollment course, or even as a result of receiving your SAT/ACT scores 
> from high school. Once your password has expired these reminder 
> messages will terminate.
>
> The Information Technology Service Desk can assist you with any 
> questions you might have.
>
> Contact us at:
> Phone: 797-HELP (4357)
> Toll Free: 877-878-8325
> Email: servicedesk () usu edu<mailto:servicedesk () usu edu>
> Footprints.usu.edu<http://Footprints.usu.edu> (Issue Tracking System) 
> [end of message] ____________________________
> Bob Bayn        (435)797-2396      Security Team coordinator
>             http://tinyurl.com/I-Need-a-Kidney
> Office of Information Technology   at  Utah State University

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