Archive for October 2012

CI Learn and Hurricane Sandy

by Anonymous


As we watch to see the full impact of Hurricane Sandy, I wanted to let you know that there is a small chance that it could have a direct impact on campus. CI Learn is hosted by Blackboard at their data center in Northern Virginia. While the Blackboard data center is extremely robust and well-equipped for emergencies, there’s always the possibility of a disruption to their services, including potential failure of telecommunications circuits in the area. Blackboard maintains multiple backup locations on 4 continents, so I am confident that even if we have an outage that we will lose little or none of our campus data. If we receive any indications of a major problem with this service or any other, we will of course let you know.

Securing Your Home Network - Some Common Mistakes

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October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), and to help support cyber security awareness, the SANS Institute (www.sans.org) has posted a short online security awareness video covering the most common mistakes people make regarding their home networks, and what can be done to protect yourself and your family.

Please take the time to view this informative video.

BEWARE of Phishing Scams!

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We've all received them, emails from a seemingly trusted source like a bank, delivery company or even your own place of employment, claiming there was some type of issue or another requiring you to offer up some personal information or click on a link or button to help clear the issue up. If you receive an email of this sort DO NOT CLICK ON ANY LINK OR OFFER UP ANY INFORMATION!

This is a common form of security attack called a phishing or spear phishing scam.

Groups attempting to steal personal information will often use e-mails that appear to originate from a trusted source to try and trick a user into entering valid credentials at a fake website. Typically the e-mail and the web site look like they are part of a bank or some other organization the user is doing business with.

If you receive an email like this and you think it may be fraudulent, please report it immediately to the T&C Helpdesk at X8552 or helpdesk@csuci.edu. They will assist you and instruct you on how to remove it effectively.

Remember...  nobody from T&C will ever ask you for any personal information, including your password!

October 2012 - secureCI Monthly Security Newsletter Now Available

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secureCI, CI's monthly information security awareness newsletter is now available for viewing. Please follow this link to view the October issue of secureCI.

Should I Click on that Link?

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We've all received them, emails from a seemingly trusted source like a bank or delivery company claiming there was some type of issue or another requiring you to offer up some personal information or click on a link or button to help clear the issue up. This is a common form of security attack call a phishing or spear phishing scam.

As October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM), to help support cyber security awareness, the SANS Institute (www.sans.org) has posted the five minute online security awareness video "Email and Instant Messaging" covering the risks of using these technologies (including phishing scams, infected attachments, and drive-by downloads), and the steps you can take to protect yourself.  This video will be available through October 15th when a new video will replace it.

Please take the time to view this informative video.

Online payment is here!

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As mentioned in a previous post regarding online payment, in cooperation with Budget and Fiscal Services, T&C is pleased to announce the launch of the CashNet eMarket service, the official online payment service of CI. CashNet eMarket is replacing existing campus PayPal accounts for taking online payment for events, products and services.

So far, eMarket has been deployed for 2 systems: online purchase of parking permits, and for registration for the upcoming SCCUR conference.

As of today, October 1, 2012, requests for new eMarket sites can be submitted by campus organizations to Budget & Fiscal Services. A full description of the process and the eMarket request form are available on the CashNet  eMarket web site.

In addition, as of October 2, 2012, Student Business Services and Budget and Fiscal Services will no longer take requests for configuration of new PayPal online payment sites.

Over the course of the fall 2012 semester, Budget & Fiscal Services will work with programs and organizations that are using PayPal to migrate them to CashNet eMarket, with the goal of completing migration and conversion of all existing PayPal payment sites to eMarket sites by December 31, 2012.

Please contact cashnet@csuci.edu with any general questions about the new CashNet eMarket service, or CI's online payment functionality.

If you get up from your computer, lock it!

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"I sent an email to your boss letting him know what you really think of him". This Notepad message was on my screen when I got back to my cubicle after getting up to stretch my legs. What? I had been gone for 180 seconds -- three quick minutes. Lucky for me, the note turned out to be from our systems administrator who wanted to make a point. All it takes is about one minute for a disgruntled colleague to send a message on your behalf to the boss and there is no way for you to prove you didn't send it. In about 30 seconds, someone could install a keystroke logger to capture everything you type including company secrets, user names and passwords. In about 15 seconds, a passerby could delete all your documents.