Reporting an Incident
The following are types of incidents that are regularly reported to SOS. Please click on the text to be taken to instructions on how to report such an incident.
Threatening Electronic Communications
If you receive a direct threat or feel threatened by an electronic communication*, please contact your local police department immediately. You should save all communication you received and continue to archive any future correspondences received.
Harassing Electronic Communications
If you receive any electronic communications* that you feel are harassing in nature, it is advisable that you respond one time to the user and ask them to stop all electronic communication immediately. You should also advise them that any electronic communication directed towards you after they receive your message to cease may be considered harassment.
Here is an example message you can use to respond (it is best that no other words are exchanged).
"Please cease and desist all electronic communication immediately. Any future attempts to contact me electronically will be considered harassment."
When sending this note, be sure to CC yourself with the e-mail message, or save the session if using a chat type program.
If you receive any further communications after this point, you may contact the police if you wish to press charges. In that case, you should save any evidence. For example, e-mail correspondence, including the full message headers, should be saved. (For information on how to retrieve message headers, please visit http://kb.its.psu.edu/article/810 or contact an ITS Helpdesk at 814-865-HELP (5-4357).)
*Electronic communications include but are not limited to e-mail, voice-mail, texts, chat logs, social network correspondences, etc.
Responded to a Phishing Scam/Compromised Account
Unauthorized Access Attempts
If you are experiencing any sort of unauthorized attempts to your system from a Penn State resource, send an e-mail to security@psu.edu. Please include the following information when doing so:
Copyright
If you discover that a Penn State resource is hosting or serving malware, please report it by sending an e-mail to security@psu.edu. Please include location of the offending content and the time/date/time zone when discovered.
Hoaxes, Phishing and Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (spam)
Unfortunately receiving phishing scams, e-mail hoaxes and unwanted e-mail is part of today's digital landscape. Best practice recommends that users filter and delete these e-mails. For assistance with maximizing filtering in your e-mail client, faculty and staff should consult their department's IT staff. Students, retirees and other non-faculty/staff should contact an ITS Helpdesk by calling 814-865-HELP (5-4357).
- Threatening Electronic Communications
- Harassing Electronic Communications
- Responded to a Phishing Scam/Compromised Account
- Unauthorized Access Attempts
- Copyright Issues, Releases and Violations
- Malware
- Hoaxes, Phishing and Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (spam)
Threatening Electronic Communications
If you receive a direct threat or feel threatened by an electronic communication*, please contact your local police department immediately. You should save all communication you received and continue to archive any future correspondences received.
Harassing Electronic Communications
If you receive any electronic communications* that you feel are harassing in nature, it is advisable that you respond one time to the user and ask them to stop all electronic communication immediately. You should also advise them that any electronic communication directed towards you after they receive your message to cease may be considered harassment.
Here is an example message you can use to respond (it is best that no other words are exchanged).
"Please cease and desist all electronic communication immediately. Any future attempts to contact me electronically will be considered harassment."
When sending this note, be sure to CC yourself with the e-mail message, or save the session if using a chat type program.
If you receive any further communications after this point, you may contact the police if you wish to press charges. In that case, you should save any evidence. For example, e-mail correspondence, including the full message headers, should be saved. (For information on how to retrieve message headers, please visit http://kb.its.psu.edu/article/810 or contact an ITS Helpdesk at 814-865-HELP (5-4357).)
*Electronic communications include but are not limited to e-mail, voice-mail, texts, chat logs, social network correspondences, etc.
Responded to a Phishing Scam/Compromised Account
- Penn State Access Accounts
If you have responded to a phishing scam using your Penn State Access Account or believe it has been compromised (meaning accessed by someone other than you), immediately visit https://www.work.psu.edu/password to change your password. Remember to follow best password practices when creating a new password. For more information on how to create a secure password, visit our password resource page. If you use the same password across multiple accounts (i.e. financial institutions, social media sites, etc) it is highly advisable to change those passwords as well.
If you believe you responded to a phishing scam with your Penn State credentials/your account has been compromised, you should also contact our office during business hours at 814-863-9533. Additional contact information and hours of operation for SOS can be found on our contact page. - External Accounts
If you believe the credentials of a non-Penn State account have been compromised (including by means of response to a phishing scam), report the incident to the external entity's abuse department. You can usually locate this information by visiting a website's help section.
If you use the same password across multiple accounts (i.e. your Penn State Access Account, financial institutions, social media sites, etc) it is highly advisable to change those passwords as well.
Unauthorized Access Attempts
If you are experiencing any sort of unauthorized attempts to your system from a Penn State resource, send an e-mail to security@psu.edu. Please include the following information when doing so:
- Detailed explanation of what happened
- Any logs you might have, including
- Date
- Time (including time zone)
- Source IP address and ports
- Destination IP address and ports
Copyright
- University Logo and Licensing Issues
ITS-SOS often receives reports of University logo and trademark licensing issues. These specific issues are handled by the University Licensing Office. If you are filing a complaint about the possible unauthorized/unlicensed use of a Penn State copyrighted image, please provide licensing@psu.edu with a detailed message about where the image(s) in question are located or being used.
If you are requesting the use of the University logo or a University trademark, please contact licensing@psu.edu with detailed information about what you are requesting. - Copyright Release
If you are requesting the use of a copyrighted image or material on a Penn State hosted website, please contact the webmaster of the site where the material is located. The webmaster information is usually located at the bottom of the page or in the contact section of the website. When contacting them, please include the URL of the content you are requesting use of, the purpose of the request and the intended usage.
If you don't receive a response in a timely manner, please e-mail security@psu.edu with the information requested above and we will facilitate communication with the copyright holder. - Copyright Violations
To report a copyright violation located on a Penn State resource, the copyright holder or his/her designated agent should send a complete takedown notice following DMCA guidelines (refer to Section 512(C)(3)(A)) to security@psu.edu.
If you discover that a Penn State resource is hosting or serving malware, please report it by sending an e-mail to security@psu.edu. Please include location of the offending content and the time/date/time zone when discovered.
Hoaxes, Phishing and Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (spam)
Unfortunately receiving phishing scams, e-mail hoaxes and unwanted e-mail is part of today's digital landscape. Best practice recommends that users filter and delete these e-mails. For assistance with maximizing filtering in your e-mail client, faculty and staff should consult their department's IT staff. Students, retirees and other non-faculty/staff should contact an ITS Helpdesk by calling 814-865-HELP (5-4357).
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