FEBRUARY, 2005

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Information Technology Upgrades Scheduled for February Break

February 20 - The mainframes supporting BANNER will be out of service for hardware maintenance most of the day.

February 21 - Computer services will be applying security updates to Microsoft Office for Secure Desktop users. Secure desktop users should leave their computers turned on when they leave on Friday, February 18. Computers that are not left on Friday night will update Office when they are turned on, which will result in a delay before the computer can be used.

Network upgrades to the campus firewall and network. This will result in short network outages between 7 and 8 AM.

February 23 - Additional network upgrades for the campus firewall. Again, there may be short network outages between 7 and 8 AM.

Email administrators will be taking the mail server out of service for maintenance for approximately one hour.  This work will be done at 5 am to minimize any impact on the College community.  We'll make sure the coffee is on for the technicians.

Network switches will be replaced in Dennison Hall during the late morning.
 

Password Security

Sharing your passwords with a peer (or anyone else for that matter) should not be done lightly. Only on extremely rare occasions should this be considered. In those cases, you should change your password immediately after the person you shared the password with has completed their task. Presumably the person you shared the password with is trustworthy but changing the password protects them and you from uncertainty should an issue arise down the road.

Remember, as stewards of important college data we must ensure our user community that we take this responsibility very seriously as we perform our jobs.

Take a look at http://www.oneonta.edu/passwords for a brief discussion on well-crafted passwords and then go to http://www.oneonta.edu/useradmin to change yours..

Quick Source Guides

The Teaching, Learning and Technology Center has a series of Quick Source Guides, which are nice laminated tri-folded publications the summarize the use of various applications commonly used on campus.  These guides are a handy alternative to the weighty and costly manuals, and can serve as a reminder for infrequently-performed tasks.

Topics available are Access 2003, Excel 2003, Frontpage 2003, PowerPoint 2003, Publisher 2003, Word 2003, Mail Merge 2003 and Blackboard. 

Those wishing to order quantities of these guides can contact the TLTC (2684) or the Administrative Desktop Support Office (2710) - these durable and information-packed guides are just a few dollars each.

They're phishing - don't get hooked!

Among the hundreds of emails we receive hawking Rolexes and various pharmaceuticals, there are many so-called "phishing" emails.  These messages are fishing for your personal information by masquerading as an official-looking communication from a bank or online commerce site.  One that arrived in our inbox recently purported to come from Key Bank and claimed that there had been an "unauthorized charge to your credit card".  Following the accompanying link brought us to a page that looked very authentic and asked for a name, social security number, credit card number, ATM card and PIN number.  Anyone who actually supplied all of this information would probably find their bank account immediately cleaned out and their credit card maxed. 

Another one that popped up recently pretended to come from "Huntington Bank" and had a similar approach, complete with a bogus login screen.  According to the Anti-Phishing Working Group website (http://www.antiphishing.org/phishing_archive/01-02-05_Huntington/01-02-05_Huntington.html) this one is coming from a server in India but its ultimate source could be almost anywhere on the planet.  That's what makes tracking the perpetrators so difficult. 

The rule of thumb should be - NEVER EVER respond to any online solicitations that ask for personal information.  No real bank or reputable online commerce site would ever ask for this information in an email.  The only time you should enter credit card information would be when you are purchasing something, and then only from a properly secure site.

What our staff is up to

The Web Development Office worked with OAS staff and some intrepid bikers from the Phys Ed Department to create a new, accurate map of College Camp and the trail network connecting it to campus.  The map shows all of the trails plus contour lines, terrain features, roads and property boundaries.  Those familiar with Adobe Photoshop can also download the source file which contains a great deal of additional information for creating customized versions of the map. 

Printable versions of the College Camp Map can be found at http://www.oneonta.edu/oas/collegecamp/maps/.

In next month's CATPrints we'll tell you about a new site that will keep you informed about the upcoming summer campus construction projects.
 

If you have a question for Computer and Telecommunication Services about:

Computer Problems or Related Issues - Call the Information Technology Help Desk at     436-4567

Telephone Service or Problems - Call the Office of Telecommunications at 436-2577

Directory Assistance - call 436-3500

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