CrowdStrike Aftermath: Remain Vigilant – Phishing Attempts on the Rise

IT teams across the university and health system have been diligently working to restore systems following the recent global IT outages caused by a CrowdStrike update. We continue to make progress toward restoring full functionality.

Though the outage itself is not the result of a cyber-attack, there is a growing risk of attackers exploiting the situation and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has warned of increased phishing and malicious activity.

You are urged to use extreme caution as fake websites and phishing attempts are on the rise, pretending to be CrowdStrike support. Please remain vigilant.

Examples of fake sites include:

crowdstrikebluescreen[.]com

crowdstrikefix[.]com

To protect yourself:

• CrowdStrike will NOT contact you directly.
• Only Duke IT will apply patches or fixes.
• Duke IT will NEVER charge you to restore systems.
• Duke IT staff will NOT ask for your password or sensitive information.
• All official incident communication will come from an "@duke.edu" email address.

If you suspect any phishing attempt or have visited a suspicious site, contact the Duke Information Technology Security Office (ITSO) at security@duke.edu. Report suspicious emails using the “Report” button on your Outlook toolbar.