Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, and Giving Tuesday are all happening in the next week. Freshly recovered from their Thanksgiving food coma, people are logging on or heading out to take advantage of great deals on gifts for their kids, partners, friends, and family. Some people will stock up on gift cards to give away or to purchase presents.
As Thanksgiving rolls around, it's natural to start reflecting on all the things we’re grateful for, including the tech that helps us get through life a little easier. Whether it’s powering through late-night study sessions, connecting with family and friends, or just saving time, some standout tools make being a student, faculty, or staff member at Pitt that much better. Let’s dig into a few pieces of tech that we’re particularly thankful for this season!
November is National Career Development Month, making it the perfect time to focus on building your professional skills and connections. As you reflect on your career, it’s important to adopt a holistic perspective. Pitt’s Career Center emphasizes the importance of balancing hard and soft skills in your development. “Employers are looking for well-rounded individuals who not only have the technical expertise, but who can also communicate effectively and work in teams.”
This election season has been intense, sparking heightened conversations on campus and across social media platforms. While staying informed is important, protecting your mental health and well-being is equally essential. With online spaces feeling more heated and polarized than ever, here’s how to ensure your time on social media doesn’t harm your peace of mind.
At the University of Pittsburgh and in technology, innovation is a way of life. Recently, Pitt IT partnered with the Office of Budget Operations (OBO) within the Controller’s Office to transform their annual Target Letter process, which establishes budget targets for each University unit. This collaboration has resulted in a more efficient, accurate, and automated approach.
Phishing attacks can come in various forms—emails, texts, or social media messages. Click, respond, or otherwise give your personal information to hacker, and your system, data, and money are in big trouble. A successful phish can even give a bad actor access to Pitt systems and data, potentially risking the whole University and its students, faculty, staff, alumni, and partners! But you can stop phishing attempts before they can do you any harm. Learn to spot the signs of a phishing attack and know what to do if you get one.
Even with strong, unique passwords for every account — and let’s face it, many people just rotate through a handful of passwords while using standard security questions — hackers manage to break into people’s accounts. That's where Multifactor Authentication (MFA) steps in as your digital sidekick, adding an extra layer of security to protect your accounts.
One of the easiest ways to boost your cybersecurity is to keep your software and apps updated. Every day, developers are looking for clues that hackers are trying to break into their systems. They are searching for holes where cybercriminals could sneak in, even if they’ve never been breached before. They then release updates to fix these issues and keep the bad actors out. All you have to do is install the latest updates for your devices, software, and apps — including web browsers — to get the latest protections.
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which is a great time to level up your security game! While we’re all familiar with the classic advice to "create unique and strong passwords," keeping track of all those passwords is a whole other story. Who can remember a different 20-character string of letters, numbers, and symbols for every account? Enter the password manager: your new security cheat code.
Think of cybersecurity as a skill only for tech pros? Think again. As technology becomes more integrated into all aspects of our lives, cybersecurity is an increasingly important consideration in most careers across the job market. With Cybersecurity Awareness Month (October) right around the corner, here’s a look at how cybersecurity applies to different fields.