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Take CyberSmart Pledge, Potentially Win Apple Watch

Duke IT officials encourage students, staff and faculty to take 10-step pledge

As part of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October, the Duke University and Duke Medicine IT Security offices invite staff, faculty and students to take a pledge to commit to secure computing practices both at home and at work.

The 10-step CyberSmart pledge focuses on basic behaviors such as using strong passwords and multi-factor authentication, installing anti-virus software, and reporting suspected security incidents to security@duke.edu.

“Phishing schemes and data breaches have become part a regular part of the daily narrative, impacting all of us,” said Richard Biever, the university’s chief information security officer. “The CyberSmart pledge is designed to help individuals understand some simple steps they can take to secure both personal digital information and Duke data.”

Duke community members who sign the pledge receive a “Get CyberSmart” webcam cover/screen cleaner, sticker and thank-you note and will be entered in a drawing to win an Apple Watch.

“Technology can only do so much to protect our systems from hacking,” said Chuck Kesler, Duke Medicine’s chief information security officer. “The reality is that the personal actions that we take on a daily basis are critically important for preventing data breaches.”

Take the pledge here.

CyberSmart Pledge