IT Staff Win Award of Excellence for Security Video

A team of seven IT staff members won a 2012 Award of Excellence from the Special Interest Group on University and College Computing Services (SIGUCCS) for their video “Phishing Bells.”  Developed as part of the University’s information security awareness program, its intent is to educate the University community—students in particular—about the dangers of phishing scams in an entertaining way.

Phishing is an Internet scam where fraudsters send official-looking emails, attempting to fool the recipients into disclosing their personal information. Phishers often pretend to be from a legitimate store, bank, organization, or government agency, or claim to be the host of a lottery or contest.

To warn individuals against clicking links in phishing emails that are common during the busy holiday shopping season, the team produced “Phishing Bells” in the form of a music video spoof of “Jingle Bells” and released it in December 2011.  Galen Dole ’13, a student technician with Classroom Technology and a member of the student a cappella group The Yellow Jackets, joined Software Specialist Brenda Wideman in singing the original verses a cappella.

The SIGUCCS Communications Awards are an international, peer-juried competition that honors IT communications efforts in higher education. The judges praised “Phishing Bells” for its clear message and “great incorporation of holiday spirit and campus celebrity.”

The team members are:

  • Will Graver (Communications Associate, Office of the Vice President for IT)
  • Shelly Rogers (Security Analyst, University IT)
  • Galen Dole ’13 (Student Technician, University IT)
  • Brenda Wideman (Software Specialist, University IT)
  • Mike Jones (Lead Web Analyst/Programmer, University IT)
  • Sara May (Sr. Communications Associate, Office of the Vice President for IT)
  • Nicole Tischenko ’10 (Jr. Communications Associate, Office of the Vice President for IT)