Important information on information security

Important information on information security

The currently very tense situation caused by the coronavirus (home office, quarantine, emergency staffing, work concentration, etc.) is increasingly exploited by cybercriminals. In particular, e-mails that hint at threatening scenarios or promise necessary or very informative content or goods are being distributed and then contain links or attachments with malware.


Please consider the following IT security advice for mobile working:

a) Basic information:

    Basically, you as an employee should primarily use the IT infrastructure of Clausthal University of Technology from home as well. If available, you should work on a service laptop and not switch to private end devices. All services provided by the computer center are approved for business use. Please do not switch to other service providers, e.g. for chatting. This often leads to unauthorized disclosure of business data to third parties! The computer centre operates a broad portfolio of permitted services and will be happy to advise you if required.
    Store business data on the central network drive NAS. The data center will then back up the data there in an elaborate redundant manner and in the event of a cyber attack it is most likely to be restored. If you should be unavailable for health reasons, your colleagues will also have access to the business data on the central drive in an emergency.

b) Increase the level of protection of your business computer:

    Connect your work computer to the university network via VPN at least once a week. This is the only way your work laptop will continue to receive all necessary software updates and guidelines.
    Currently, be especially careful when sending and opening e-mails. Only use your TU e-mail address vorname.nachname@tu-clausthal.de for business purposes and allow your colleagues to check the plausibility of your e-mails by adding meaningful links when attaching an attachment ("as discussed this morning I will send you the documents on topic X"). Do not open any e-mails that seem unexpected or suspicious, call for urgent action (your password will expire immediately, attention: corona cases in your area ...) or make you tempting offers (currently e.g. for protective masks and disinfectants). Please do not distribute chain letters and circulars to your colleagues. Even if they are partly well-intentioned (today at 9 p.m. we light a candle in solidarity), they often spread untruths, malware or increase a feeling of fear or excessive demands among the recipients.

c) Support and assistance:

    The Computer Center of TU Clausthal is there for you even in times of the Corona crisis. For security reasons you can best reach us at support@rz.tu-clausthal.de. The RZ staff will also be happy to advise you on how to use the tools for mobile working at Clausthal University of Technology.