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Week 5 Announcements
Monday: This Week in CSIS 1 — Security, Scams & Protecting Yourself
Hey everyone -
This is the week I think about all year. If you only pay attention to one week of this course, make it this one.
We're covering cybersecurity, phishing, scams, malware, AI-generated threats, and what you can actually do to protect yourself. This stuff is real and it's happening to people every day.
This week you'll be able to:
- Identify common types of malware and how they spread
- Spot phishing emails, texts, and phone scams using specific red flags
- Explain how AI is being used to create more convincing scams (deepfakes, voice cloning, AI-written phishing)
- Set up multi-factor authentication and understand why it matters
- Evaluate your own digital security and create a plan to improve it
What's due this week (all due Sunday 11:59 PM):
- Practice Quiz (unlimited attempts)
- Discussion: "After the security audit, what surprised you most about your own digital habits?"
- Real-World Task #1: Security audit — evaluate your own digital security and make an action plan
- Real-World Task #2: Scam identification — analyze 5 real-world scam examples
- Weekly Check-In Quiz (2 attempts)
Readings: Intro to CS Ch. 14 (Cybersecurity), WSS Ch. 1 Sec. 1.4 (Ethics & Security), plus the GCFGlobal Internet Safety module. Also — go to haveibeenpwned.com and check your email address. Yes, really. You'll probably be surprised.
Monday Demo tonight — Live phishing teardown, deepfake examples, and I'll walk through setting up a password manager and 2FA. If you do nothing else, do those two things. Zoom link in Module 5.
-peter h
Wednesday: Mid-Week Check-In
Hey everyone -
Two things from this week that I want to make sure land:
1. Your password is probably terrible. I'm not trying to be rude — almost everyone's is. If you're using the same password on multiple sites, or if your password is shorter than 12 characters, you're at risk. Get a password manager (Bitwarden is free and good). Let it generate random passwords for everything. You only have to remember one master password. Do this today.
2. If someone contacts you urgently asking for money or gift cards — stop. It doesn't matter if it sounds like your boss, your grandkid, or your bank. Scammers create urgency on purpose so you don't think. Hang up. Call the person back on a number you already have. Never use the number they give you.
AI makes this worse now. A 3-second clip of someone's voice is enough to clone it. So "it sounded just like them" isn't proof of anything anymore. Verify before you trust.
Check haveibeenpwned.com if you haven't yet. It's part of the assignment but it's also just a good thing to know.
-peter
Friday: Week Wrap-Up
Hey everyone -
Week 5 wrap-up:
Due Sunday 11:59 PM: Security audit, scam identification, discussion, and quiz.
Mistakes I'm seeing:
- On the quiz: people think antivirus software makes you safe. It helps, but it's one layer. Updates, strong passwords, 2FA, and not clicking sketchy links matter just as much — probably more.
- On the scam identification: some of you are saying "I would never fall for this." Respectful pushback — the people who get scammed also thought that. The whole point of social engineering is that it works on smart people who are busy, distracted, or emotional. Stay humble about this.
- Confusing encryption with security. Encryption protects data in transit or at rest. It doesn't mean a service is trustworthy. A criminal can encrypt their files too.
The security audit assignment: If doing the audit made you realize you need to change some passwords or turn on 2FA — do it. For real. Don't just write about it and move on. This is the one assignment where the real-world payoff is immediate.
Next week (our last week): AI, emerging tech, information literacy, and the final exam. We'll talk about ChatGPT, deepfakes, misinformation, and how to think critically when you can't trust your eyes or ears anymore. Plus you'll get to use an AI tool and then fact-check it — which is honestly kind of fun.
Almost done. One more week. Let's finish strong.
-peter h