News & Alerts

A recent breach of a third-party vendor’s CRM system has exposed business contact information held by several vendors in Pitt’s portfolio, increasing the risk of phishing and social engineering attempts. No Pitt systems or student data are known to be involved. If your unit works with affected vendors, please review the guidance below.1. Know how to spot and report phishing scams.

Beginning Thursday, July 9, InCommon, the consortium that provides Digital Certificates for the University, is transitioning from Sectigo to a new certificate platform, CertiNext. Existing certificates remain valid through their expiration dates, and TLS server certificates remain available without change.

Before there were any numbers, there were a lot of guesses. Everyone had a theory about how Pitt students were really using generative AI (GenAI) — but a theory isn't research. So a team of Pitt faculty set out to ask, “what do Pitt students really think about GenAI?”

Pitt Digital has resolved the issue that affected access to website addresses shortened through the pi.tt URL shortener. Full service has been restored. We continue to monitor the service closely to ensure continued stability and reliability.

If you’re someone who keeps a million and one digital and physical notebooks (and can never find the note you’re looking for), Microsoft’s all-in-one digital notebook is ready and waiting in your Microsoft 365 account — and it comes free to students, faculty, and staff with your Pitt credentials.

Pitt Digital provides students, faculty, and staff with access to a suite of institution-approved AI tools through Generative AI@Pitt, built around equitable access and privacy protections. The tools are one part of a broader, University-wide approach to responsible AI that includes the AI Coordination and Development Committee — announced by Provost McCarthy in February — as well as the Pitt AI-Scholar Teacher Alliance (PASTA), a faculty-led monthly forum that has grown to more than 140 members since its launch in 2023.

The vendor has resolved the issue that affected Claude for Education earlier today and restored full service.

Pitt Digital helps organize an Air Force Association CyberCamp, a free, weeklong cybersecurity program for high school students now in its 10th year at Pitt. More than 1,400 students have completed the camp since its launch, and this year's program expanded for the first time to include Pitt Greensburg alongside the Pittsburgh campus event. Instructors use curriculum from the national CyberPatriot program and emphasize the logic, reasoning, and ethics behind cybersecurity skills — with an eye toward addressing the hundreds of thousands of unfilled cybersecurity jobs nationwide.

On Friday, June 26, Pitt Digital will automatically update GlobalProtect VPN to version 6.2.8 on all University Windows and Mac devices. This update brings enhanced security and improved stability to your VPN experience.What to expect: 

This incident has been resolved.

The FBI reports Americans lost nearly $900 million to AI-powered scams in 2025, driven by voice cloning, deepfakes, and AI-generated scripts that supercharge romance scams, extortion calls, fake influencers, and government impersonation fraud.

The vendor has resolved their issue and restored full service. Pitt Digital continues to closely monitor affected services to ensure continued reliability and stability. Any additional updates will be posted to status.pitt.edu.

If you’re still using the same password you made up years ago, this is your sign that it’s time for an upgrade. In today’s digital age, we’re responsible for more password-protected accounts than we’d like to be, which makes it easy to take shortcuts. But those shortcuts have consequences — namely, putting your data at risk.

As identity becomes the primary attack surface, attackers increasingly log in with valid privileged credentials rather than breaking in. This piece outlines why traditional access controls fall short and how auditors should test detection and response instead.

Monitoring confirms the incident is fully resolved.

Pitt Digital will update the University’s PittNet Wi-Fi security certificate at 9 p.m. on Saturday, June 20, as part of our annual renewal to maintain wireless security. Wi-Fi services will remain uninterrupted during the renewal.

Google says the ShinyHunters group, responsible for the Canvas breach, may have accessed data at more than 100 organizations by targeting Oracle's PeopleSoft software; 68% of the targets identified so far are higher education institutions.

CAPTCHA checks — or pop-ups with a quick test to determine if the computer user is a robot — have become inescapable on the modern web. The FTC is warning that fraudsters are spreading fake CAPTCHA requests to take advantage of consumers. If you aren’t paying attention, criminals can quickly take control of your device.

The issue has been resolved. Sierra Cedar continues to monitor the environment closely, and any additional updates will be posted to status.pitt.edu.

During the past year, Pitt Digital has been working closely with Oracle Data Warehouse users to help them prepare for the migration to our Snowflake Data Warehouse, a modern, flexible platform for data, analytics, and AI. Access to the Oracle Data Warehouse will be disabled on Monday, June 15, and the Oracle Data Warehouse will be fully decommissioned on Wednesday, July 1.  

In response to customer feedback and to further enhance security, Pitt Digital is introducing two enhancements on June 10 that will make it simpler and more convenient to recover a forgotten password and log in.

This summer, you have a pretty good reason to fine-tune your remote work setup. Starting in July, PennDOT’s closure of I-376 Parkway East will route interstate traffic through Forbes and Fifth avenues.

Timely updates and reboots are essential to maintain the security and integrity of the University’s network. Please take note of the following updates and guidelines in three areas related to cybersecurity:1. Install New Microsoft Patches and RebootToday Microsoft released monthly security updates that affect a wide range of products. It is crucial to promptly identify and install these updates to protect your systems from vulnerabilities. Please adhere to the following installation timelines:

Monitoring confirms the issue has been fully resolved.

Summer is here, and with it — vacation season. When you’re deep in travel planning mode, returning to the office is probably the last thing on your mind. But while you’re away, your inbox isn't.