News and Service Notices for March 28

Higher Education is a Frequent Target of Phishing and Scams

CPP Colleagues:

This week, the Cal Poly Pomona (CPP) community received targeted phishing emails "spoofing" (impersonating) members of our community. These fraudulent emails impersonate staff, faculty, and, students and are intended to compromise your BroncoAccount, steal personal information, and phish additional victims after gaining access to your account.

Phishing attempts increase during important events like tax season, spring break, finals, and other significant times when cybercriminals try to hook victims who could be distracted or stressed.

Today, the Internal Revenue Service kicks off annual Dirty Dozen with warning about phishing and smishing scams to help inform taxpayers about tax season fraud.

Never provide your BroncoID or BroncoPassword or authorize a DUO Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) from another person or a non-CPP affiliated webpage.

Note: CPP staff, faculty, students, and affiliated vendors will never send unsolicited messages asking you to provide your Bronco credentials (name and password), or MFA authorization, or submit a form including this information.

If you receive messages requesting personal information or credentials, consider the risk before you click or provide personal information.

• Be suspicious of unsolicited communication requesting personal information or immediate action, even when it arrives from a cpp.edu email address.
• Verify the source before responding.
• Don't click or follow any links.
• Don't paste URLs into your browser.
• Don't submit forms requesting personal or sensitive information from an unverified source.

When you receive a suspicious email, text message, or other communication, forward it to suspectemail@cpp.edu and contact the IT Service Desk using eHelp.

If you provided your BroncoAccount credentials or authorized an MFA request, reset your password immediately IT Service Desk.

Responding to a phishing attempt makes you and our community, including any personal contact information you provide, more likely to be targeted in the future.

Exercise diligence in reviewing and responding to emails and text messages. Additional tips for spotting email phishing and scams are provided at our eHelp Phishing and Scams Article, and Information Security page.

For additional information, you can contact the IT Service Desk or contact me at ciso@cpp.edu.

Information Security and Compliance
Chief Information Security Officer
Information Technology & Institutional Planning Division
California State Polytechnic University Pomona

Artificial Intelligence Fair

AI for a Better Future is coming to CPP on April 17, and free tickets are available to attend this multidisciplinary event and discussion of artificial intelligence.

• Date: April 17, 2024
• Time: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Location: Bronco Student Center, Ursa Major, Cal Poly Pomona

The Cal Poly Pomona Artificial Intelligence Fair encourages participants to explore artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance academic success, reduce disparities, and improve social equity. By creating tools and applying them responsibly, AI can help end systematic inequality.

Service Notices

No service disruptions are planned outside of our planned maintenance windows.

Planned Maintenance Windows

• Thursdays, 9:30 p.m. to 12:00 a.m., midnight.
• Sundays, 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m.
• IT Service Status 

During these times, online services may be briefly unavailable without advance notice.