Mandatory Cybersecurity Training Deadline is March 6

This is a reminder that the deadline to complete mandatory online cybersecurity awareness training for most UC Merced employees is Monday (March 6).

The training is part of the University of California’s continuing efforts to address increasing threats to the security of information systems and data. The UC Office of the President has released new versions of the cybersecurity awareness training. One is for new employees and the other is a refresher course for those who completed the course last year.

The course is mandatory for all UC employees, including faculty and staff members and student employees, and is intended to better prepare workers to fulfill our responsibilities and strengthen our defenses against cyberattacks.

Failure to comply with mandatory training will have a negative effect on performance appraisal ratings for policy-covered staff who work with UC computers or systems and will result in a mandatory reduction in merit pay. Deans, department chairs and the Academic Senate will address noncompliance involving faculty.

Employees who completed cybersecurity awareness training after March 6, 2016, will receive assignment reminders for the refresher course two months before the due date, which is the anniversary of their last completion. Please see the resources below for additional help:

• For technical issues, questions about the training requirement or interest in Spanish or Mandarin versions, contact hrtraining@ucmerced.edu.
• For accommodations or assistance with accessibility, please contact Accommodations Consultant Jay Lomeli at jlomeli3@ucmerced.edu or 209-259-8806.
• To report unauthorized or unintended use, access, disclosure, ransom, acquisition, loss or deletion of sensitive UC Merced data or information, please visit the Office of Information Technology’s Report a Security Incident webpage. Alternatively, you may report directly to the UC system breach incident reporting line.

For more information on UC Merced’s information security resources visit IT’s Security and Alerts webpage.