Entries from October 2012 ↓

Stop.Think.Connect. -Security Tips for your home computer

President Obama has again declared October as National Cyber Security Awareness Month! You can read the White House statement here:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/10/01/presidential-proclamation-national-cybersecurity-awareness-month-2012

 

The National Cyber Security Alliance team encourages everyone to STOP.THINK.CONNECT.

The internet is an incredible tool, but you must use caution to ensure that your personal information remains secure and to protect yourself from virus infections.

I have an antivirus, why do I still get virus infections?

Antivirus solutions can block viruses that they have rules or definitions for, but new malware is released daily. It is critically important that you update your antivirus often so you are protected against recent threats. Some viruses are installed by infected webpages. Some viruses exploit old versions of software, like Java or Adobe. Recently, more virus infections have been spreading through social media, such as Facebook and Skype. If you click on an infected message and then download and run a file, you may be bypassing the protection provided by your Antivirus program.

Keep a Clean Machine

  • Keep security software current: Having the latest security software, web browser, and operating system are the best defenses against viruses, malware, and other online threats.
  • Automate software updates: Many software programs will automatically connect and update to defend against known risks. Turn on automatic updates if that’s an available option.
  • Protect all devices that connect to the Internet: Along with computers, smart phones, gaming systems, and other web-enabled devices also need protection from viruses and malware.
  • Plug & scan: “USBs” and other external devices can be infected by viruses and malware. Use your security software to scan them.

Connect With Care

When in doubt, throw it out: Links in email, tweets, posts, and online advertising are often the way cybercriminals compromise your computer. If it looks suspicious, even if you know the source, it’s best to delete or if appropriate, mark as junk email.

  • Protect your $$: When banking and shopping, check to be sure the sites is security enabled. Look for web addresses with “https://” or “shttp://”, which means the site takes extra measures to help secure your information. “Http://” is not secure.

When in doubt, ask us!

ASU ResNet is here to help you with Cyber Security and answer any questions you may have.

Like us on Facebook for more security tips or to ask questions! https://www.facebook.com/ASUResNet

You can also contact us at resnet@adams.edu, calling us at 719-587-7741 or stopping by ASU Computing Services.

Computing Services Maintenance Activities for Thursday, October 18, 2012

The following maintenance activities will take place during our normally scheduled maintenance window beginning at 9 PM:

-All Banner services will experience a brief outage from 9:00 PM until roughly 9:30 as we perform a test move of the database between servers.

-The campus Trane server, lock server and the back-end VMWare storage cluster will receive critical security patches and upgrades. No user impact or outage is anticipated due to these patches.

As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please call the ASU Computing Services Help Desk at 719-587-7741 or contact us via email at computingservices@adams.edu

Thanks and have a great day,

Computing Services

October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month!

Computing Services will be sending out security tips during the month of October to celebrate National Cyber Security Awareness Month! For more information on National Cyber Security Awareness Month, please click the link below.

http://www.staysafeonline.org/ncsam

***Phishing***

We have seen an increase in phishing attempts recently. Phishing emails, calls, and other scams are designed to trick you into sharing your personal information with a cybercriminal. Cybercriminals will attempt to steal passwords, credit card information, and other personal information.

Phishing emails can sometimes be cleverly crafted to look like they have been sent from Computing Services. Computing Services will never ask for your password via email!

If you receive a phishing email do not click on any links or respond to it, please delete it. You can also forward phishing emails to reportphishing@antiphishing.org if you would like to. When in doubt, please call us!

Here is more information on how to recognize phishing attempts:

http://www.microsoft.com/security/online-privacy/phishing-symptoms.aspx

Another example of the severity and seriousness of phishing comes from the recent “ransomware” scam that is detailed on the FBI link below:

http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2012/august/new-internet-scam

If you have any questions about phishing or would like more information about National Cyber Security Awareness Month, please contact the Computing Services Helpdesk at 719-587-7741 or at computingservices@adams.edu.

CS Maintenance for Thursday (10/11) and PC Power management- Going Green!

The following maintenance activities will take place during our regularly scheduled maintenance window beginning at 9 PM:

-Critical security patches will be applied to various servers with minimal, if any downtime expected for our users.

***ASU Employee Computer Power Management- Going Green!***

Computing Services is excited to apply a more consistent power management policy to our employee computers. All employee computers will now only sleep after 2 full hours of inactivity during peak business hours of 8 am to 5 pm. After 5 pm, they will sleep after 1 full hour of inactivity. We hope to reduce campus energy consumption and costs with these policies. Only employee Windows computers will be affected. Classroom computers will remain exempt from power management settings to ensure classes are not interrupted.

We understand that some employees would like their computers to be exempt from these settings. To do so, please follow the instructions at the link below:

https://howto.adams.edu/index.php/ASU_Employee_Computers_-_Power_Management_Settings

If you have any questions, please call Computing Services at x7741 or email us at computingservices@adams.edu

Computing Services Maintenance for Thursday, 10/4 and Banner outage Saturday, 10/6

The following maintenance activities will take place during our regularly scheduled maintenance window beginning at 9 PM this Thursday:

-All campus network, lab, Banner, wifi and Internet access will experience outages lasting from 9 PM until roughly 10:30 PM. This maintenance is due to a known issue that, if unpatched, will cause the network switches that control these services to lock up and cause an un-planned outage.

Computing Services apologizes for the inconvenience that this outage may cause, but chose this maintenance window during Fall Break in an attempt to minimize overall impact to all of our users. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please contact the ASU Computing Services Help Desk at x7741 or via email at computingservices@adams.edu

****Banner Services unavailable this Saturday, 10/6****

Beginning at 8 AM and lasting until roughly 5 PM, ALL Banner services including forms, School Services, Banner printing, and Xtender (BDMS) will be off-line as Computing Services moves and reconfigures the Banner system hardware and servers into a second equipment rack. This move is part of an effort to improve our ability to make these services more highly available and redundant.

Thank you,

Computing Services