April 19, 2022

UCalgary offers 2 new cybersecurity courses for researchers

Half-hour courses teach researchers how to protect themselves and their data from cyberattacks

Cybersecurity is a growing concern for everyone — including researchers.

The University of Calgary’s Information Technologies (IT) and Research Computing Services (RCS) teams hope to address this concern by adding two new cybersecurity training modules that have been specifically designed for researchers. The courses were created by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) and are particularly timely with UCalgary’s recent acknowledgment as one of Canada’s top five research universities.

“Education and awareness are key when it comes to cybersecurity — and researchers are no exception,” says Mark Sly, IT security and architecture director. “ISED designed these courses to ensure Canadian researchers were aware of and educated on cybersecurity threats to their work. Being cyber-aware is a critical defence against threat actors, even when the university provides a safe and protected research environment.”

The first course, Introduction to Research Security, focuses on introducing learners to why research security matters, how it can benefit both researchers and their work, and ways to start developing cybersecurity core competencies.

The second course, Cyber Security for Researchers, provides an overview of the cyber-threat environment, provides cybersecurity resources, and helps learners to practise safe handling, storing and transmitting of sensitive research data. It also equips researchers with the knowledge to make informed decisions about potential cybersecurity issues.

You can enrol on Enterprise Learning Management site

Both new courses can be found on Enterprise Learning Management. You can enrol yourself by navigating to the My UCalgary portal and selecting the menu “My Work” at the top and clicking “PS Enterprise Learning” under the “Direct Access Menu.”

“These courses are just two of the many research computing services available to our researchers here at the University of Calgary,” says Abdel Yousif, director of Research Computing Services. “Our team of system analysts, data scientists and high-performance computing experts are ready and available to meet with (researchers) and to provide guidance for all research needs, including cybersecurity ones.”

Researchers, along with all staff and faculty, are also encouraged to complete the Introduction to Phishing Course, also on Enterprise Learning Management, where they can learn to spot and report malicious phishing emails and text messages.