Penn State community reminded to share links safely

Proactive measures should be taken when using Office 365 system to collaborate

For more information on computer security, please visit the Office of Information Security website Credit: Patrick Mansell / Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – As collaboration becomes easier, Penn State’s students, faculty and staff are reminded to practice caution when sharing links to documents, folders and more within the Office 365 system.  

When sharing links for folders or documents across the University, the Office of Information Security advises the community to use the option for sharing with select individuals across the University. To access this option, clicking on “share” for a file will prompt a “send link” message box to appear. Users can then type in the names of individuals they would like to receive the file link.  

Additional safety features for link sharing can also be found in this message box by selecting to share with “people with existing access” or “people in the Pennsylvania State University.” These options can also be set as defaults by folder owners. Particularly, folder owners may utilize the “people with existing access” function for their default sharing setti2ng as an additional safeguard for sensitive content.  

“In order to keep our systems secure, it’s critical for our students and employees to practice link safety,” said Richard Sparrow, Penn State’s interim chief information security officer. “We encourage our community to be thoughtful in how they share their links and set folder permissions.” 

For more information on security, please visit the OIS website

Last Updated December 6, 2021