Get Tips on Protecting Your Data

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Two seminars in the LearnIT @ Lunch series will provide tips on using a password management program to improve password strength and ways to not fall victim to “ransomware” and other phishing attacks. The events are part of Cyber Security Awareness Month.

On Wednesday, a representative from LastPass will show Duke community members how to use the password management program’s features.

“LastPass is a password manager that makes your life easier by storing, creating, and typing your passwords for you,” said LastPass representative Samantha Styles, who will lead the Learn IT @Lunch session. “When you have yet another password to create and remember, LastPass has you covered.”

On October 26, John Straffin from Duke’s IT Security Office will discuss the latest ransomware and phishing security threats and offer tips for protecting personal information.

Both sessions are from noon to 1 p.m. in the Edge Workshop room in Bostock Library and hosted by the Office of Information Technology (OIT). LearnIT@Lunch sessions do not require registration. They are open to Duke community members; participants may bring lunch.

Patricia Tirrell, who learned about LastPass from colleagues, uses LastPass to juggle the passwords for more than a dozen grants ranging from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars in the Economics department. Tirrell, a grants and contracts administrator, said that many federal grants require regular password changes for security.

“I only remember one password for LastPass, really, that's it,” she said. “I cannot tell you what my other passwords are."