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Archive: November 3, 2004 |
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Security and
Internet Services
Security home |
SECURING PRIVATE DATA
Did you know? University data that is stored on or accessed by computers
and other electronic devices must be secured against intentional
or unintentional loss of confidentiality, integrity, or availability
regardless of location. Detailed requirements for securing private
data have been approved: http://www.umn.edu/oit/security/privatedata.html
. Questions? Contact 1-HELP 612-301-4357.
IS YOUR HOME COMPUTER AS SAFE AS YOU THINK?
A survey of AOL home users found various forms of spyware on 80%
of the participant's computers. Yet more than 70% "of those
who participated in the survey falsely believed they were safe from
viruses and online threats." A gap that "causes many home
computer users to forgo security precautions such as antivirus and
firewall software." Read more: http://www.pcworld.com/resource/printable/article/0,aid,118311,00.asp
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THE POWER OF A VIRUS
In the past 2 months, nearly 500 computers have been removed from
our network for some variation of a BOT virus. These must be removed
quickly because infected computers scan other computers to spread
the virus and report their "availability for misuse" to
a BOT network.
LEARN MORE ABOUT BOTNETS AND ZOMBIE NETWORKS
Read more about how BOT viruses can be misused. In the first half
of 2004 "their average numbers monitored by security firm Symantec
rose between January and June from under 2,000 to more than 30,000
per day" http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/09/20/rise_of_the_botnets/
. "By using compromised machines ... spammers can bypass traditional
IP address blacklist" and sell their lists of compromised machines:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/10/20/phishing_botnet/print.html
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CRITICAL WINDOWS XP SECURITY UPDATE
It's November and by now every Windows XP user should have installed
SP2, a free critical update that provides better protection against
malware, includes Windows Firewall and Pop-up Blocker for Internet
Explorer. While supplies last, OIT now offers free SP2 CDs to UM
students, staff, and faculty – available at 1-HELP 152 ShepLabs,
93 Blegen, 50 Coffey, as well as UCS and Residence Halls. Also get
SP2 via http://safecomputing.umn.edu/downloads.html
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UMN STANDARD FOR SECURITY PATCHES
Computers and other electronic devices attached to the U network
must be regularly maintained including the application of critical
security patches within 60 days after release by the vendor. See
http://www.umn.edu/oit/security/updates-patches.html
. Reminder: "a standard is a level of quality that requires
conformity," and this Security Patch standard applies to the
Windows XP SP2 update.
SPAM AND VIRUS STATS
In October, 2004 Central e-mail spam controls blocked 10,911,413
messages. In September, they blocked 8,383,529 messages. Anti-virus
controls also blocked additional messages: 105,030 messages in October
and 88,220 messages in September.
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Network and Telecommunication
Services
NTS home |
NETWORK CUTOVER UPDATE: COMPLETED
CONNECTIONS
Gopher GigaNet, the University Campus Network is now installed on
the St. Paul Campus; Printing and Graphics and the Como area is
also completed - so far totaling 8,880 connections in 66 buildings.
459 problems have been recorded, ranging from speed setting to VLAN
changes. In spring 2005 when the campus cutover is completed, additional
features will be implemented.
NETWORK CUTOVERS: UPCOMING WORK
Nov 8: the Academic Health Center Area cutover will begin with MasCanCtr,
VFWCRC, DiehlH, MoosT, and TSB. Nov 15: PWB will begin. By Jan.
2005, the Health Sciences area, all south of Washington Ave. will
be completed. In Jan. the West Bank area is scheduled to begin;
the cutover should take 3 weeks. By Feb. the East Bank areas will
begin.
BUILDING CUTOVER COMPLETION
Building cutover completion is planned for the end of spring. Detailed
building lists, cutover process, and other project information is
available at http://www.umn.edu/nts/networkupgrade
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VOICEMAIL TO E-MAIL ENHANCEMENT AVAILABLE
NTS now offers an enhancement to voicemail. This new service sends
voice messages to your e-mail address as individual sound files.
Now you can listen to your voice messages from your voicemail box,
your personal computer, or any other device you use to retrieve
e-mail. There is no monthly charge for this service, but there is
a one-time software order charge.
REQUESTING VOICEMAIL TO E-MAIL
To start receiving your voice messages anywhere you can receive
e-mail, submit an order request, available online from "Order
Services," in the left-column, at http://www.umn.edu/nts
. Include your voice mailbox number and the e-mail address you would
like your voice messages sent to. [MORE] Ordering
details.
VOICEMAIL TO E-MAIL DETAILS
How many messages can you store? How long will messages stay in
the voice mailbox? What happens to the voicemail notification light?
What happens when voicemail is forwarded? [MORE]
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Academic and
Distributed
Computing
Services
ADCS home |
WEBMAIL STATS
On a typical weekday, 126,000 WebMail sessions are run originating
from 36,000 unique IP addresses; these numbers show that some people
access WebMail throughout the day. And there are 49,000 stored address
books and 121,000 WebMail users who have personalized their settings.
UPDATES TO SYSTEM STATUS PAGE
The System Status page reports planned maintenance outages or problems
with the University's major systems. In the Network (LAN/WAN) section
a building cutovers list is available that contains network upgrade
information. Similarly, in the Email Services section e-mail outages
are posted when technicians are working on them. See http://training.micro.umn.edu/SystemStatus/
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NEW SOFTWARE LICENSES: NVivo and N6
ADCS is now distributing NVivo and N6 licenses. Currently the products
are bundled together for a $125 annual license. To order see: https://www.umn.edu/adcs/site/login.html
. Read more about these products below and on the QSR International
web site: http://www.qsrinternational.com/products/productoverview/product_overview.htm
. Send questions to: software@umn.edu.
ABOUT NVIVO
New software license - Working with rich text documents, NVivo is
designed for researchers who need to combine subtle coding with
qualitative linking, shaping, searching, and modeling. If you work
with complex data, such as multimedia, and who want to conduct deep
levels of analysis, NVivo could help.
ABOUT N6 (NUD*IST)
New software license - N6, the latest version of NUD*IST, is a program
that allows easy access to data and extensive automation of clerical
tasks. With merge software included, N6 is especially useful for
those working with large amounts of data in a team environment.
NORTON ANTIVIRUS FOR MACINTOSH
Look for a new version of Norton AntiVirus for Mac OS X v10.1.5
or higher and Mac OS 9.2 or higher on our web server by Thanksgiving.
Qualified members of the University community will be able to download
it from the ADCS software site: http://www.umn.edu/adcs/software/
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U-RENT-A-GURU: URAG
URAG consultants provide short-term computer consultation and support
services for departments. Services are available on an hourly basis,
and a URAG consultant will come to your departmental Twin Cities
campus location. A increasingly popular service is setting up new
departmental computers, a URAG service that also addresses computer
security issues and more. Details http://www.umn.edu/ucs
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Digital
Media
Center
DMC home |
NOV 10 & 17, NOV 12: NEW
TEL FUNDING, COURSE CONTENT CLASSES
Learn how to improve your chances of winning a technology-enhanced
learning (TEL) grant or how to effectively adapt and design materials
for content-rich course web sites in two new short courses. See
http://training.micro.umn.edu/ShortCourses/ClassDetail.cfm?ClassID=1892
and http://training.micro.umn.edu/ShortCourses/ClassDetail.cfm?ClassID=1894
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NOV 12: EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGISTS FORUM MEETING
Discuss fair use issues related to educational technology and participate
in break-out sessions about participant-chosen topics with other
campus developers of technology-enhanced learning (TEL) projects:
FRI, NOV 12, 3-4:30 p.m., 402 Walter Library.
DEC 7: FAIR USE TEL SEMINAR
Panelists will discuss the foundations for copyright/fair use policies
in higher education, the four-factor evaluation in technology-enhanced
learning (TEL) contexts, licensed access alternatives, and the copyright
permissions model: NOV 7, noon-1:30 P.M., 402 Walter Library. See
http://dmc.umn.edu/spotlight/fair-use.shtml
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