Campus Technology Services

Volume 13, September 2009

Featured Article: “Phishing Scams – Don’t Get Hooked!”

SUNY Oswego is not immune to the multitude of phishing scams circulating on the Internet. In fact, many of them try to impersonate CTS by asking for your username and password. Below is an example of one. Would you respond to this message if you were to receive it?

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Subject: Dear State University Of New York Email Subscriber

From: State University Of New York

Date: Mon, 03 Aug 2009 08:50:33 +0200

To: Undisclosed recipients: ;

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Dear State University Of New York Email Subscriber,

To complete your Account Verification process, you are to reply this message and enter your ID and PASSWORD in the space provided (*******), you are required to do this before the next 48hrs of receipt of this e-mail, or your Web mail Account will be de-activated and erased from our database.

Full Name:

Webmail User ID:

webmail Password:

Your account can also be verified at: https://webmail.oswego.edu

Thank you for using State University Of New York Copyright Of State University Of New York Administrative. Credits: Information Management Group© Copyright 2009, All Rights Reserved.

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At first glance, this may seem like a legitimate email, but we hope you answered no to the question of whether you would respond. Here’s why:

1. First of all, CTS will never ask for username/password information.
2. Secondly, check the validity of the From: address. It does not come from a valid SUNY Oswego email address. It comes from a site called “webmaster.com.”
3. Lastly, there is an unfounded sense of urgency with regards to the account being deactivated. CTS gives accounts that are about to expire (because the user has left the institution) about three months notice.

If you have responded to any type of message like this, PLEASE change your password! Once a scammer receives your username and password, they will use your account to start spamming people at other sites. This has happened enough within the last couple of months that SUNY Oswego has been blacklisted by a number of sites. This means that those sites block ANY email message coming from a SUNY Oswego email address whether it is legitimate or not. Recently, we were blacklisted by Hotmail, Yahoo, Dell, and others.

Another impact of responding to these messages is local time and resources. When accounts are being used to send spam, the spammers are usually sending out thousands of messages at a time eating up resources on our local mail server. This can cause the system to slow down.

In addition, when local accounts are being used to send out spam, CTS employees spend time getting them under control. According to CTS System Administrator, Andy Goldzweig, “Once we know that someone’s account is being used to spam, it takes 20-30 minutes per account to clean it up and lock it. We go through 6 machines to delete any spammed email getting ready to be sent out. We try to delete it before it gets delivered.” Therefore, this steals time away from staff working on campus projects.

In short, DELETE any email message that asks for any personally identifying information whether that be username/password, social security number, birth date, etc. Legitimate companies should not be asking you for this information via email. If you have doubt over whether an email is legitimate or not, please send it to the Technology Support Center (help@oswego.edu) and we will check it for you.

By educating the user community on phishing scams, we can teach these scammers to go “phishing” somewhere else!

Presenting SUNY Oswego on iTunes U

Over the last year, CTS, Extended Learning, and Public Affairs have worked on configuring and piloting an iTunes U site for SUNY Oswego. We are proud to announce that the site is now ready for full release to the campus.

What is iTunes U? If you are familiar with Apple's iTunes store, iTunes U is an extension of that for universities to distribute educational and promotional multimedia content such as lectures, presentations, guest speakers, athletics, etc. The multimedia is presented in a way similar to the iTunes store and can be viewed with the iTunes application. In addition, users can opt to subscribe to certain iTunes U spaces so they are automatically notified when new content for that space has been uploaded.

Currently, SUNY Oswego on iTunes U has a few spaces with multimedia content that can be viewed by the whole world. Mary Avarkatos from Artswego recently received permission from Li Young-Li to upload readings of his poems while he was visiting on campus. These recordings are located in the Arts Identity and Diaspora space of the SUNY Oswego on iTunes U site. Mike Ameigh has uploaded supplemental material for his Broadcasting 400 class for his students to access available from the BRC400-SL1 space. John Kane has uploaded various CELT sponsored workshops including “Using Clickers in the Classroom: How might they be used to increase student learning” and “Using ANGEL to generate a mastery learning quizzing system” in the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching space.

More departments are working on material as well. The Admissions office is working on a virtual walking tour of the campus. Student Orientation will be offering multimedia presentations for our new students. CTS will be creating on-demand technology workshops.

To view the SUNY Oswego on iTunes U site, you simply need Apple’s iTunes application installed. Then go to www.oswego.edu/itunesu and click on the “Launch SUNY Oswego on iTunes U” button. This will automatically start the iTunes application and take you to our site.

For more information about SUNY Oswego on iTunes U, be sure to visit the following links available from the bottom of the www.oswego.edu/itunesu page:

1. “Getting Started”: more details on what you need to view and listen to SUNY Oswego on iTunes U content.
2. “Request”: form for anyone interested in having their own iTunes U space to upload multimedia content. To assist you with creating multimedia content, CTS has been working with the Library to offer two options for recording. You may choose to loan out equipment (laptop, microphone headset, webcam) or use a multimedia production room within the Library for recording your multimedia productions. Both of these options are in the process of being set up and will be available for use in the first half of the fall 2009 semester.
3. “FAQs”: answers to commonly asked questions about SUNY Oswego on iTunes U.

Laker NetID

You may have started seeing or hearing the term “Laker NetID” in association with CTS services. To help differentiate between your login username/password and faculty/staff new SUNY Oswego email address, any service that requires a login using your SUNY Oswego email username and password is now referred to as your “Laker NetID.” CTS is in the process of updating many web pages and services to use this new name. If a department has any web pages or online services that refer to using SUNY Oswego login credentials, please update them to reference the new “Laker NetID” name.

New Test Scoring Tool for Faculty

The Banner team has been working on migrating various Banner tools and programs to a new operating system. In the process of doing so, some programs will no longer work and need to be replaced. This has occurred with the test scoring tool that faculty use for grading exams. The previous Pescore tool has been replaced with a new one called, “Remark Classic.” CTS will be emailing information to faculty members regarding the use of Remark Classic.

Professional Development

CTS fall workshops are in the process of being organized. Workshops on Office 2007, Mailman mailing lists, ANGEL community groups, creating and maintaining departmental web pages with OmniUpdate, and more will be available.

Look for the full schedule of workshops and online registration rom our CTS training web site at www.oswego.edu/cts/training.

CTS Workshops are freely available to all SUNY Oswego faculty, staff and students.

Notes from the Help Desk

The Technology Support Center will be open Monday through Thursday, 8am-7pm and Fridays 8am-4:30pm. The TSC is located in 26 Lanigan Hall and you can reach us by phone at x3456, email at help@oswego.edu or chat at www.oswego.edu/help. In addition, limited support will be available in Penfield Library for two weeks only Monday-Friday 10am-4pm, September 8th – 18th. Just stop by the Information Desk.

Over the last year, CTS has been working on installing, configuring, and populating a product that will allow users to search a knowledgebase as well as check on and submit tickets to the Technology Support Center. This product is called Lakerpedia. We are in the process of adding more content to the knowledgebase, but you can get a sneak peek at it by visiting http://lakerpedia.oswego.edu.

Are you on Facebook? Want to receive updates from CTS on new services, updates, system outages, and more? We recently created a “SUNY Oswego – Campus Technology Services” Facebook group. Become a fan and start receiving updates!

Campus Equipment Upgrades

Over the summer, CTS was busy updating various technical spaces. Below are details about specific areas that were upgraded.

Network Upgrades

The Rice Creek Field Station was upgraded to have high speed Internet access. The offices at the Rice Creek always connected to the campus network via modem as there was no infrastructure in place to connect them any other way. Since last summer, CTS has been working with Time Warner Cable to discuss alternative ways of connecting at a faster rate. To accomplish this, we ran new fiber to Rice Creek this summer which now allows them to connect at high data transfer speeds. In addition, Rice Creek also has new phone numbers.

Computer Lab Upgrades

Mahar 210 and 211 computer labs have received their first facelift since their original configuration 20 years ago. They have been renovated to be full teaching labs during the day and open access computer labs at night. The rooms are equipped with new furniture, carpet, teaching podiums like those found in Advanced Technology Classrooms and white boards. They will be open for general campus use from 6-10pm Monday through Thursday.

The computer labs in 322 Snygg and 34 Lanigan were each updated with new Dell GX760 computers with faster processor speeds, more memory, and more disk space.

ATC Upgrades

Computers in all the Advanced Technology Classrooms were upgraded with new Dell GX760 computers with faster processor speeds, more memory, and more disk space.

ResNet Updates

Students living in the Residence Hall rooms will be using the Cisco Clean Access automated registration system again this year to register their computers on the campus network. Look for a Getting Started document hanging on your door handle.

CTS will be offering ResNet Room Service again this semester to assist users in getting connected. During ResNet Room Service, you may sign-up for CTS professional staff to visit the computer in your room to help resolve any issues with getting it connected to ResNet. The schedule for this fall 2009 semester is as follows:

For Oneida/Cayuga/Seneca/Onondaga Halls:

Room Service Date/Time: Monday, August 31, 3pm - 9pm

Sign Up Location: Please visit the Oneida Computer Lab

For Hart/Funnelle/Sheldon Halls:

Room Service Date/Time: Tuesday, September 1, 3pm - 9pm

Sign Up Location: Please visit the Hart Computer Lab

For Scales/Waterbury/Riggs/Johnson/Mackin Halls:

Room Service Date/Time: Tuesday, September 1, 3pm - 9pm

Sign Up Location: Please visit the Scales Computer Lab

Did You Know?

Did you know that if you have forgotten your password, you can reset it online? Provided that you have set a security question and answer for your Laker NetID, you can regain access to your account by going to the CTS Account Tools website, clicking on the "Forgot Password?" link and submitting the answer to your security question.

If you don't have a security question set, then you will need to go to the Technology Support Center at 26 Lanigan Hall with your College ID to have it reset. Once your password is reset, you should set a security question in the event that you forget it again. Just login to CTS Account Tools website and click the "Security Question" link on the left side. Select a question from the pull down menu and provide an accurate answer in the space provide. Click "Submit" to complete the process.

Graduate Studies Online Applications Coming Soon

The Graduate Studies Office, in collaboration with the Banner team, is in the process of developing online applications for both non-degree and degree students. The non-degree application is expected to be available September 1^st and will be available from the Graduate Studies web site. Degree student applications will be developed and made available continuously throughout the fall and spring.

Looking Ahead

The following are major projects CTS is currently working on:

• New Wireless System: This fall semester the campus wireless computing system will be converted over to a new system. Currently, the wireless network requires a VPN client to be installed on your computer in order to securely login and transmit data. The new system will no longer require a VPN client. Instead, you will launch a web browser which will allow you to login to the wireless network.
• Wireless Computing in Residence Hall Rooms: CTS is in the process of setting up Hart Hall to allow students to use the campus wireless computing network from their residence hall room. We hope to switch Hart Hall to a wireless computing dorm sometime this fall semester. If this works well, Johnson and Riggs Halls will be migrating to wireless computing in residence hall rooms in the spring semester.
• myOswego Updates: The myOswego registration menu will be undergoing some changes prior to spring 2010 registration. Non-degree student links will be separated from degree student links. A link to request a prerequisite override will be included in the non-degree student menu. The prerequisite override will allow the non-degree student to agree to terms on which he/she are eligible to take a course with prerequisites that prohibits his/her registration.
• Banner Upgrade: The Banner team has tentatively scheduled the upgrade of Banner/myOswego for the week of Thanksgiving. The upgrade includes “globalization of data” for best practices as well as changes in PIN processing that are more inline with industry standards. Administrative users are encouraged to review documentation regarding the new releases and adapt business processes accordingly. Documentation is available from network shared drives as well as the SICAS web site.
• Content Management System Update: The Web team is in the process of doing final testing with the Ingeniux product to make sure it is compatible with our environment. If so, we will be looking at purchasing it within the next couple of months.
• Blogging Software: The blogging software is on hold as the new content management system has blogging capabilities. We will continue to offer blogging for anyone interested, but at this point we will be looking at the new CMS as a possibility of offering blogs.
• Construction Projects: CTS continues to assist with campus construction projects, including the design of the science building, the new townhouses near Glimmerglass Lagoon, and initial discussions of the Library renovation.

If you have any questions related to any of these projects, please contact the Technology Support Center at x3456 or by email to help@oswego.edu.

Tech Tip

The Technology Support Center often receives calls and emails from users experiencing cryptic errors in Windows XP. In order to understand and diagnose these errors, it's extremely helpful to email us the exact message as it displays on your screen. Users often discover that there's no way to highlight these dialog boxes and feel forced to transcribe the error messages by hand.

There's an easy workaround for this dilemma -- simply click once on the dialog box to bring it to the foreground, and then hit Control-C. This will copy the contents of the dialog box, which can then be pasted (Control-V) into an email message.