For Immediate Release October 6, 2005

For More Information Contact: Diane Brown, 317-274-7711 habrown@iupui.edu

IU's "keepITsafe" Campaign Supports Cyber Security Awareness Month

INDIANAPOLIS - Adopting safe computer use habits is at the forefront of protecting the integrity, privacy and availability of personal, university, government and industry information. That's why during October, Indiana University will participate in National Cyber Security Awareness Month and encourage its university community to "keepITsafe."

To increase awareness of the importance of IT security, the university will host IT security certification sessions, participate in IT panel discussions, and launch an eye-catching poster and postcard campaign that highlights timely IT-related security concerns.

Viruses, worms, phishing scams, and identity theft are the topics in a series of five posters that are reminiscent of movie posters for 1950s horror and sci-fi films. Created by UITS staff, the posters will be on display at IUPUI and IUB and will direct the university community to http://keepITsafe.iu.edu in order to obtain computer user information on security issues.

"We want to encourage students, staff and faculty to adopt safe computer use behaviors to protect vital information on their computers at school, work, and at home," said Merri Beth Lavagnino, IU deputy information technology policy officer and a member of the national EDUCAUSE Security Task Force's Awareness and Training Working Group. "Resources, such as the 'Windows End-User Security' STEPS Workshop offered by IT Training & Education and anti-virus software downloads, available through IUware, are valuable tools to help the university community help themselves."

About 250 people from Indiana and other parts of the country are participating in advanced computer security training and certification program this week in downtown Indianapolis. As part of the program, IU is presenting a panel discussion in partnership with SANS (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security) Institute, a national leader in information security, training, and certification.

IU and the IUPUI campus also will sponsor a panel discussion on IT security as part of TechPoint Summit 8, an annual conference geared to Indiana 's technology trade industry. The conference takes place Nov. 1 at the Indiana Convention Center. ###