Gone are the days of Nigerian princes promising millions of dollars in exchange for your personal information. At Syracuse University, phishing scheme emails now look convincingly like they’re from Information Technology Services and prompt readers to enter their NetID and password.

Email scams are becoming more sophisticated, and the information they aim to steal is becoming more valuable. That’s why SU should do all it can to protect students, faculty and staff from falling victim to phishing.

SU’s servers store mountains of personal information that hackers can access and sell on the dark web if they get ahold of someone’s NetID and password. And since SU stores that information, the university holds a degree of responsibility for keeping it safe.

Still, that burden doesn’t fall entirely on the university’s cybersecurity measures. Students have to take internet safety into their own hands, and SU can help make that happen. While administrators receive training on how to spot and avoid phishing, students only receive the occasional warning email from ITS. That makes them especially susceptible to scams — but this is easily avoidable.

As much as no one wants to click through another orientation training session, the security of students’ information is at stake. A one-page fact sheet or a few extra slides in a required safety presentation during first-year orientation could provide valuable information without rehashing the obvious and wasting students’ time.

After all, personal information can be used for everything from copping a student price on Spotify to stealing someone’s entire identity. But a little extra diligence can keep it safe.

The Daily Orange Editorial Board serves as the voice of the organization and aims to contribute the perspectives of students to discussions that concern Syracuse University and the greater Syracuse community. The editorial board’s stances are determined by a majority of its members. You can read more about the editorial board here.