As the U-M community settles into another academic year of teaching, learning, and research, we are reminded why it is so important to protect U-M’s wealth of digital assets. It’s a great time to celebrate national Cybersecurity Awareness month with Security at U-M in IT (SUMIT) events throughout October. ITS Information Assurance (IA) and the ITS Privacy Office have planned events to reach U-M faculty, staff, and students. Please help us spread the word.
Keynote
Who: Rachel Tobac, CEO of SocialProof Security
What: Exploiting the Trust – The Human Element of Security (Big Ten Academic Alliance-sponsored webinar)
When: October 29, 12-1 p.m.
Description: It only takes 1 email, a 30 second call, or 1 social media DM for her to hack you and gain access to your money, data, and systems. Meet Rachel Tobac, who executes these social engineering attacks for a living and uses her real-life ethical hacking stories to keep organizations up to date on the methods criminals are using to trick people. She'll break down recent cyber attacks in the news, and how to defend against the latest hacking methods, even when criminals are using AI. Her tales from the field and live hacking demonstrations throughout the presentation are sure to keep you and your team "politely paranoid" to catch the next human hacker in the act.
Events
- Information Assurance Sessions: U-M cybersecurity experts will host virtual sessions on topics such as Phishing, Scams, & Protecting Identity, Vulnerability Management, and the ITS Disaster Recovery Planning Process.
- Trending Threats and Higher Ed Impacts: Matt Singleton, CrowdStrike Executive Strategist, offers an expert overview of the CrowdStrike 2025 Threat Hunting Report, identifying global threats and higher ed impacts.
- Drop-in Office Hours: ITS IA staff will host open office hours to answer questions about cybersecurity and data protection.
- Level UP Your Cyber Game – Big Ten: A virtual trivia game show hosted by the National Cybersecurity Alliance where teams can show off their cybersecurity knowledge. Join the U-M team in this friendly competition for the title of Most Cybersecurity Aware Institution in the Big Ten. Sponsored by the BTAA.
- Safe Computing pop-ups: IA and the Privacy Office will be hosting table pop-up events on the Ann Arbor campus to engage with students.
- Safe Computing Challenge for Students: An engaging, quiz-style challenge for students to learn about protecting themselves online and be entered into a drawing for ITS Tech Shop gift cards.
Check out the full schedule and event details on the Safe Computing SUMIT page. Thank you for supporting and promoting IT security at U-M!