Information Security Incidents at Northwestern
Information security incidents are events that give someone access to sensitive information (personally identifiable details, passwords, academic, health, or financial records) without permission.
If you suspect a security incident has occurred, immediately contact your school or department, local technical support staff, the Northwestern IT Support Center at 847-491-4357 (1-HELP) or the Northwestern IT Information Security Office at security@northwestern.edu.
Any incidents involving online harassment or physical theft of a device should be reported to University Police.
Examples of security incidents include:
- Someone accessed your account in CAESAR and changed your class schedule or loan information.
- You replied to an unsolicited email that asked for your NetID, password, or other personal information and then suspected it could be a scam. (See Reporting a Phishing Email section on this page.)
- A file containing Social Security numbers was accidentally sent to the wrong recipient.
- A laptop containing unencrypted sensitive research data was lost.
Reporting a Phishing Email
To fully investigate your issue, please forward the entire email message you received, which includes both the body of the message and the full email header, to security@northwestern.edu. Please follow these instructions to view the full header in the Knowledge Base.Before reporting the suspicious email, please review the list of recent phishing messages reported at Northwestern to see if your issue is already a known issue. You may also wish to review best practices to protect yourself from these scams.
Remember, these are only a few examples of information security incidents. If you feel threatened, in danger, or if a crime was committed, immediately contact University Police.
| To report a: | Contact: |
|---|---|
| Information security incident |
Northwestern IT Information Security Office security@northwestern.edu
|
| Crime (including theft of electronic equipment) or emergency |
University Police |
Last Updated: 17 February 2021
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