Phishing Attempt 5/16/2013

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A phishing attempt was sent to a large number of users on campus.  The subject line of the email contained the phrase, “Attention,” and was sent from “HELPDESK.”  The email informed users that they “have exceeded your email limit quota. You need to upgrade your email limit quota to 2GB within the next 48 hours..”

Do not click on the links in these emails. If you have already done so, immediately change your password using the Password Manager at http://password.smcm.edu.

To report this email as a phishing attempt to Google, please follow the directions on this support page: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/184963?hl=en

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the IT Support Center at x4357 or open a ticket at http://itsupport.smcm.edu.

Phishing Attempt 5/15/2013

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A phishing attempt was sent to a large number of users on campus.  The subject line of the email contained the phrase, “FROM THE MAIL SERVICE TEAM” and asked users to “…upgrade your email account:You are to click the below link for upgradation.”

Do not click on the links in these emails. If you have already done so, immediately change your password using the Password Manager at http://password.smcm.edu.

To report this email as a phishing attempt to Google, please follow the directions on this support page: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/184963?hl=en

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the IT Support Center at x4357 or open a ticket at http://itsupport.smcm.edu.

More IT Humor

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someecards.com - Sorry but your password must contain an uppercase letter, a number, a haiku, a gang sign, a hieroglyph, and the blood of a virgin.

Reminder to Enroll in the New Password Manager Program

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Don’t forget to enroll in the new SMCM Password Manager program!

OIT has implemented a new Password Manager program that allows the user to reset his/her network password (Portal, Blackboard, and Google Apps) or unlock a network account 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in just a few minutes.

Currently, the enrolled users include:

  • Faculty: 52%
  • Staff: 53%
  • Students: 44%

All you need to do is enroll in the Password Manager program by setting up three security questions.  If you are locked out of your account, you can reset your password or unlock your account in just a few minutes by answering the questions.

Along with the implementation of this program, OIT has been able to relax the password reset policy for enrolled users, so that passwords will only need to be reset once a year.

After May 1, 2013, users needing password resets by OIT staff will need to come in person to the IT Support Center in Baltimore Hall with a current SMCM ID card in order to have a password reset.

For more information about the new password policy and enrolling in Password Manager, please see our previous posts:

If you have any questions or concerns about the password policy or new password manager program, please contact the IT Support Center by creating a ticket at http://itsupport.smcm.edu or by calling x4357.

Student G: Drive Storage Space to be Retired

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With the implementation of Google Apps for Education on campus, every user has access to 5 GB of file storage in Google Drive.  This storage space has several advantages over the previously provided 500 MB on student G: drives:

  • Google Drive storage is approximately 10 times larger than the G: drive space accessible to students.  
  • Google Drive files are backed up by Google in multiple ways, resulting in better recovery options during a disaster.
  • Google Docs files (Forms, Spreasheets, Documents, etc.) do not count toward the available 5 GB, meaning a larger total storage space.
  • Documents and files stored in Google Drive can be easily shared with other computer users, including options for limiting sharing to within the SMCM domain

As a result, student G: drive folders will be removed from network access as of June 1, 2013. It is highly recommended that students copy files currently stored in their G: drive folders to hard drives, flash drives, or other storage devices.  After June 1st, students will need to schedule a visit to the IT Support Center to transfer files to a personal flash (thumb) drive.

Google Drive also has options via downloaded apps for syncing files with a desktop or mobile device (smartphone, tablet, etc.).  These apps can be part of a viable backup strategy for users in protecting files from accidental loss or damage.

Please see the following links for more information about working with Google Drive for storage, sharing, and syncing files among computers and mobile devices:

If you have any questions or concerns about the retirement of the student G: drive folders, please contact the IT Support Center by creating a ticket at http://itsupport.smcm.edu or by calling x4357.

Phishing Attempt from “Microsoft Support”

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OIT has received phone calls from a party identifying itself as “Microsoft Support” attempting to inform the user that the PC running Windows has been infected with malware.  This is a phishing attempt and should be disregarded.

Do not give your private information to anyone who calls with this story.  OIT will never ask you for your password.  If you have received this call and provided private information, please log on to Password Manager and change your password immediately.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please create an IT Support Center ticket at http://itsupport.smcm.edu or call x4357.

Google Apps Access Has Been Restored

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Google is now reporting via their Google Apps Status Board that all access has been restored.

If you are still having problems logging into Google Apps, please close your browser and reopen it to try accessing the login page again.  If you are still experiencing difficulty, please report the issue to the IT Support Center via web ticket at http://itsupport.smcm.edu or by phone at x4357.

Thank you for your patience during this time.

Google Apps Experiencing Sign in Problems

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Google Apps for Education is currently experiencing problems with user login.  Other institutions are experiencing similar problems. OIT and Google are aware of the problem and will update you as further information is available.  Authentication (the ability to login to your account with your network username and password) is working intermittently for some people.

If you are currently signed into your Google Apps account in a tab of your browser, please DO NOT  log out or close the Gmail tab.

If you are experiencing difficulty signing in to the SMCM Google Login page, you can try signing in to a generic Google page by going to http://www.google.com in your web browser and clicking on the Sign In button in the top right corner of the page.  

To keep updated with Google’s reports of the problem, you can view the Google Apps Status Page for information.  Please be aware that this page can be slightly delayed in reporting status as problems and solutions are verified by Google staff.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact the IT Support Center by creating a ticket at http://itsupport.smcm.edu or by calling x4357.

Final Reminder: Removing Access to Blackboard 8 Server

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In October OIT announced that the Blackboard 8 (Bb8) server would be removed from access for previous course materials after the Fall 2012 semester.

After providing a grace period extending into this semester, OIT is now ready to proceed with the decommissioning of the Bb8 server on the morning of Monday, March 18. Thereafter, faculty and staff will not be able to log into Bb8 and access any documents, grades, or other information stored in this system.

So if there are course materials still in Bb8 that you would like to preserve for future courses or as a record of previous work, you will need to act soon to export/archive this material.  The OIT How-To Library has several pages that will walk you through the export/archival process.

 

 

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Software Patching on Campus Windows Computers

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In an effort to maintain a more secure computing environment and provide the latest available features, OIT will be utilizing some new tools that allow us to do a better job of updating some of the common software programs installed on college owned Windows computers.  We are in the process of testing a parallel infrastructure for Mac computers and will provide information on this work as it becomes available.

If you are a user of College-owned Windows computers, please read through the following information about this update process:

  1. This process only impacts Windows based computers.
  2. Patching will begin on Monday March 12, 2013.
    The updating process occurs over the course of several days.  As computers check in, a software client will perform a scan to see if the update is required.  This will be an on going  process.  When software patches are released from the software developer, OIT will perform some initial in-house testing.  When testing is complete, OIT will push the software patches to campus computers.
  3. We will update the following programs on a regular basis:
    1. Adobe Acrobat Reader
    2. Adobe Flash Player
    3. Java
    4. Mozilla Firefox
  4. OIT will schedule updates both regularly and on an as-needed basis. Software developers for the products above release updates frequently in order to patch security holes, fix bugs, and enable new features.  In order to minimize the impact of waiting for updates on campus users, OIT will use a release schedule to apply updates to campus computers. Software patches which address security concerns will have priority over patches that offer only enhanced features.

What to expect when the updates occur:

  • If your computer already has an equal or newer version of the software we are attempting to push, no changes will be made.
  • If you have a laptop, and it is not currently connected to the network with a network cable, the patching process will begin the next time you connect your computer to the network.  OIT recommends that laptop users make an effort to connect these computers to the campus network regularly to ensure the security of their working environment.
  • If your computer is powered up but not logged in ( and connected to the network with a network cable), the updates will install without any notification or user intervention.
  • If you are logged in to the computer, you may receive a notification in the lower right corner of your screen. The product we are using to deploy updates is called the KACE Appliance.  The notification will look similar to the following image. You may also receive a notification indicating that a reboot is necessary to complete the installation process.

Kace Task Message Image

If you have any questions regarding this process, please contact the IT Support Center by creating a ticket at http://itsupport.smcm.edu or by calling x4357.