Incident Response
HGSE adheres to the University’s comprehensive Privacy and Security (PrivSec) Incident Response Plan, which encompasses all University functions. This plan serves not as a replacement for existing Harvard incident management strategies but as a supplement, offering detailed procedures tailored for responding effectively to PrivSec incidents. It is designed to ensure cohesive and robust handling of privacy and security challenges across the institution. The PrivSec Incident Response Plan is readily available to University employees assigned critical roles in the incident response process, thereby enhancing preparedness and coordination University-wide. The below situations just include some of the most common incidents encountered by Harvard community members.
Please complete the below reporting steps if you experience, or are aware of, any of the following situations:
- Contact HGSE’s Director of Security Operations (DSO) via the IT Service Center
- If you are an HGSE or Harvard employee, contact your manager
- Open a case with the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) by calling 617-495-1215 (if urgent, call 617-495-1212)
If you see sensitive HGSE or Harvard data on an unsecured server or posted publicly, or you believe you may have used an unsecure system to collect or transmit sensitive HGSE or Harvard data, open a ticket or call 617-495-7777.
Forward phishing emails to phishing@harvard.edu. When the University receives a suspected phishing email, their security teams check it out to determine the risk. If it is in fact a phishing attack, they may take any of the following steps:
- Breaking dangerous links so they don't connect to unsafe webpages
- Blocking malicious files from being delivered to other inboxes in the future
- Escalating the report to the University's Security Operations Team to investigate compromised systems or accounts
If you are aware of a vulnerability in an HGSE or Harvard system, open a ticket or call 617-495-7777.
If you or someone else has received a threat to your safety, including "cyberstalking" or "cyberbullying," open a case with the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) by calling 617-495-1215 (if urgent, call 617-495-1212).
Please contact the University Office of Cash Management immediately at 617-496-0300 and cash_management@harvard.edu. We ask that you also contact HGSE’s Director of Security Operations (DSO) via the IT Service Center.
If you have a non-urgent security question or concern, you're encouraged to schedule some time with HGSE’s Director of Security Operations (DSO): calendly.com/sarah_pruski
