Global settings change coming soon to Miami Google Calendars
On November 24, the "Add invitations to my calendar" default setting will change to “Only if the sender is known”. This change is taking place to help combat a significant increase in phishing attempts via Google Calendar.
Global settings change coming soon to Miami Google Calendars
Beginning Monday, November 24, there will be a global settings change implemented to Miami’s Google Calendar. This change will affect how your calendar accepts invitations. Currently, by default, the Add invitations to my calendar setting is set to “From Everyone”. That default will be changed to: “Only if the sender is known”.
Please note that if you have changed this setting yourself at any point, the change on November 24 will not affect you. Your current setting will stay the same as it is currently.
For further clarification, the “Only if the sender is known” will allow calendar invitations to automatically show up on your calendar if the sender is:
- Someone with a MiamiOH.edu email address
- Someone you have added calendar entries from in the past
- Someone in your Contacts list
If you would like to adjust this setting manually after the change on November 24, you will be able by following the steps below:
- Click the Settings Menu (Gear) icon at the top of your Google Calendar.
- Select Event Settings from the left-side menu.
- In the Add Invitations to my calendar drop-down box, select the desired option.
- A pop-up box will display; click OK.
The reason for this change is that the Information Security Office is seeing a significant increase in phishing attempts via Google Calendar. Threat actors will send an email invite for a virtual meeting with details about a recent “Bitcoin purchase”, for example, that you supposedly made, with instructions to contact the sender if the transaction doesn’t sound familiar to you. That’s the rub—they’re trying to get you to contact them. Visit MiamiOH.edu/PhishBowl for more information about this type of scam, as well as others we have recently seen.
