Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a good time to strengthen your digital habits
Concordia protects its systems and information through secure technologies, ongoing monitoring and the shared efforts of our community.
Cybersecurity at Concordia is about more than hackers, passwords and technology — it is also about people and trust.
Every day, faculty, staff and students share personal information with the university. Whether you’re applying for admission, registering for courses, teaching, conducting research, working at Concordia or accessing services, that information helps the university support your work, studies and campus experience.
Protecting personal information is a shared responsibility at Concordia. Faculty and staff who handle personal information work alongside privacy and compliance specialists and Concordia’s cybersecurity team to help keep it all safe.
Five ways Concordia helps to protect your personal information
1. Reviews new technologies before they are adopted
Before a new technology is used to collect, store or process personal information, it is reviewed for privacy and security considerations. These reviews help Concordia identify risks and meet its obligations to protect your information.
2. Limits access to information
Access is based on roles and responsibilities. Faculty and staff can only access the records and systems they need for their work, helping keep student, employee and other university information available only to authorized people.
3. Trains employees
Training helps faculty and staff understand their responsibilities when handling personal information and using Concordia systems. Awareness activities also give everyone practical ways to recognize risks and make safer choices online.
4. Responds when issues arise
When a privacy or security concern is reported, Concordia has processes to investigate it, reduce risks and help prevent similar incidents. Reporting something unusual quickly can help limit its impact.
5. Continuously improving
Privacy and cybersecurity are always evolving. New technologies create opportunities, but they can also introduce risks. That is why Concordia regularly reviews its practices, technologies and procedures to keep pace with a changing digital environment. Recent improvements include:
- Updating the email policy to require university email accounts for official correspondence
- Requiring the use of an authenticator app for multi-factor authentication (MFA)
These measures help protect personal information. Using your Concordia email address keeps official communications in a secure, trusted channel. Authenticator apps add another layer of protection by helping verify your identity when you sign in.
How you can help
Whether you study, teach or work at Concordia, you can help protect personal and university information by:
- Using your Concordia email address to communicate with us
- Creating strong and unique passwords
- Enabling multi-factor authentication in apps and systems whenever available
- Being cautious of unexpected emails, messages, or links
- Keeping your devices updated
- Reporting suspicious activity if something does not seem right
This Cybersecurity Awareness Month, take a few minutes to review your online habits and digital security settings. Small actions can make a meaningful difference in helping to protect your information.
For more information about how Concordia collects, uses, shares, and protects your personal information, see the Privacy Notices.
Find out more about cybersecurity awareness and training at Concordia.