This is a reminder that old computers (generally 2 years beyond warranty or 5-7 years old) should be promptly removed from campus.  It is important that old computers be removed as they can pose security risks and cause friction in user and IT workflows.

You’ll be practicing good digital citizenship by notifying IT of old computers in need of removal. Please submit a Solution Center/Help Desk request for us to decommission such machines.  We can make special arrangements to have them physically removed when it is safe, but first we need your request submitted to plan the work.

Thank you for your partnership!

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Mark your Calendars!

Faculty, Staff, and Students are invited to attend complimentary MATLAB sessions:

• Everything You Wanted to Know about Simulink:  Jan 19
• 21 Matlab Features You Need Now: Jan 20
•  Introduction to Simscape: Jan 21
• Image Processing Made Easy Using Matlab: Jan 22

>>View complete session descriptions and register.

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On Friday, January 8th, ITS Infrastructure will perform maintenance on the campus wireless. This maintenance will start at 7:00 AM and end at noon and will have minimal impact on WiFi connectivity. Other services such as GlobalProtect VPN, wired Internet connectivity, or access to myCI will not be affected.

If you have any concerns, please contact the Shared Services Solution Center at 805-437-8552, or submit an ITS service request.

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Dear Colleagues,

Attackers are increasingly targeting insecure legacy email protocols like POP and IMAP to avoid running into multi-factor authentication – thus more easily compromising cloud-based accounts. The lack of multi-factor authentication means that attacks can avoid account lock-out and compromise accounts unnoticed.

For this reason and in an effort to improve email security, CSUCI plans to disable IMAP and POP protocols for faculty and staff users of University email systems.  A small population of users who are currently using these legacy protocols will be contacted to switch to more secure email methods.  Notification on the timeline for disabling these protocols will be sent soon with the intention to end support starting in 2021.

If you have any questions about this or would like assistance changing your email configuration, submit an ITS Service Request or contact the Shared Services Solution Center at 805-437-8552. 

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Below please find a summary of activities & accomplishments for the department of Information Technology Services over the past month.

User Services

• Communicated the need for attention to Windows Feature Updates  and worked with users to perform updates for computers on the CI network.
• Performed additional work with Academic Lab Technicians and Phil Hampton to improve collaborative support for wet labs and instructor workstations.
• Completed installations of 50 new computers in Sierra Hall 1131 and 1432.
•  Created a new workflow to address 3rd party patch requests.
• Provided a list of commonly used campus software, now sortable and with additional detail, including the list of unsupported operating systems.
• Requested and received proposals and quotes for additional HyFlex rooms.
• Worked with users and vendor to resolve Troy check printing issues.
• Resolved 184 work orders.

Application Services

• Development, Testing, Quality Assurance, and Move to Production completed or scheduled during November 2020:
• Appsian ERP Firewall – Move to Production
• Engage Interface - Move to Production
• AIMs Retrofits – Move to Production
• EAB Enhancements – Unit Testing of Note Uploads, Principal Development of Phone Number Additions 
• Transition of Web Applications from Freevo to .Net Core - Principle Development Continues
• Santa Rosa Island Web Application – Principle Development Continues
• Work Continues on mandated CHRS Recruiting Project
• The Following Maintenance was performed:
• Non-Baseline Posting Veteran Benefits Modification was migrated to CI Records Test
• Maintenance Pack 13.00 installed in CI Records and CI Personnel 
• Maintenance Pack 13.01 were installed in CI Records
• Maintenance Pack 13.02 were installed in CI Records Test
• The Following Data Warehouse and Institutional Reporting Activity took place during November 2020:
• CFS Data Warehouse Integration with OneCI Data Warehouse Continues
• Data warehouse operational work for BFA, Student Affairs, Advancement and Academic Affairs 
• Application Services continued supporting the following operations and projects:
• CFS MP4.0 Move to Production Coordination for BFA 
• CFS 1099  Coordination for BFA
• CSU CMS - AWS Hybrid Cloud Project 
• Student Financials Fee Configuration
• Identity and Access Management Support
• CFS Related Support of BFA Operations 

Infrastructure

• Installed data cables from Sage Hall to Sage Parking lot light poles for Parking Lot WiFi project
• Worked with campus electricians activating a number of Shark Meters on the network
• Worked with Digital Energy engineer configuring several Shark Meters for the network
• Oversaw contractor installing first half of NextGen 911 equipment in rack at Data Center
• Research for Parking Lot WiFi installations
• Work on challenging security camera cabling issue
• Setup preventative measures against Kerberoasting attacks
• Patched and enabled blocking against Zero logon attacks.
• Upgrade Microsoft licenses for high risk users for increased protection and security and more features with Microsoft 365. 
• Shibboleth Upgrade from 3.4.3 -> 4.0.1
• OneDrive Migration for Student Affairs and Library departments 

Information Security

• Renewal of Malwarebytes ($7800) was negotiated for a yearly savings of $10k
• Worked with the Infrastructure Team and the CO’s to resolve a Kerberoasting vulnerability
• For November we updated eight, 3rd party software updates to our Mac clients
• Continued work with ITS colleagues on various cross-department projects related to remote device patch management
• Started working on the Win Desktop image for both labs and clients (Win H2)
• Started working on an image for Mac OS Big Sur and updates to the current OS Catalina
• Requested a (M1 chip) laptop from Apple to test compatibility and security. This device will be at no cost for CI.
• All staff have started taking Power BI training
• News Center article 23 Nov. / Tips for safe online holiday shopping

Project Management

• Adobe Sign: Completed four templates and thirteen are in process. There were 1132 agreements sent, 934 completed, 69 in process, and 129 rejected. 
• Completed and closed online photo submission project. ( MyPhoto product)
• Completed the first round of IT governance sub-committee meetings. Presented both CARES funding requests and project requests. 
• Meeting ITS leadership team and project managers to review project requests, active projects, and projects on hold to discuss the direction and next steps
• Relaunched Ticketing Systems improvement initiative with TDx team. The next meeting will be held during the second week of December 2020.
• Dropbox to OneDrive migration project is in progress. Planning and training preparation are completed for migration for the Division of Student Affairs and the Library. 
• Completed IT project portfolio review meetings with Division Project Coordinators for 3 divisions
• Resolved 25 IT procurement requests
• Delivered training sessions on Teams, Power BI, Microsoft 365 in partnership with Professional Development Team and Microsoft team
• Santa Barbara Space Lease project is in progress

Web Services

• Continuing to work with DSA on the migration of http://theisland.csuci.edu content to a new content management infrastructure. Presented Trumba event calendar and will be integrating Trumba on the website.
• ATI report was completed and submitted, both for CO and President’s report
• 26 tickets have been resolved
• Continued research and work on Intranet feasibility study
• Working with Modo Labs to launch Elevate program to revamp CSUCI mobile app 

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Starting with Windows 10, Microsoft introduced a new servicing model known as "Windows as a Service" (WaaS), which simply means that instead of getting a new version every three years, you get incremental updates that speed up the integration of new features and simplify the process of keeping devices current and secure.

Feature updates are technically new versions of Windows 10, which become available twice a year (roughly every six months) during spring and fall. CI's current and future feature updates will be available for workstations on the CI network (the computer must be physically on campus or connected to the CI network through VPN), and may be accessed by users through through Software Center.  You may only see the update if your computer needs it.

To get to the Software Center:

1. Click on the Windows Start Menu
2. Search for "Software Center"
3. Click on Operating Systems
4. Double-click on the most recent Windows version, currently titled "Upgrade to Windows 10 Ent 20H2 x64"

Updates may be performed at the user's convenience, but should be performed within six months of release. 

Part of the update will run in the background (you can continue working on your computer) and that process could take from 1 to 3 hours, depending on the performance of your system.  The second part of the update will require that you reboot your computer.  This could take 10 - 60 minutes where you will be unable to use your computer.

Please help keep your system and other devices on our network up-to-date and current by performing and accepting feature updates.  This is an important part of our overall IT security strategy to reduce opportunities for system compromises and failures.

If you have further questions or concerns regarding feature updates, please feel free to submit an ITS Service Request or contact the Shared Services Solution Center at 805-437-8552.

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 Microsoft has recently released a new feature called Daily Briefing to all Office 365 users at CSUCI (staff, faculty, and student employees). The Daily Briefing from Cortana is a daily email designed to help users manage tasks, identify available time on their calendar, identify outstanding requests, and suggest focus time for users to work efficiently during their workday.
 
The Daily Briefing emails are personal and private and can be opted out at any time by visiting http://cortana.office.com and clicking the “Unsubscribe” button. Users may also click the unsubscribe link embedded in the body of each Daily Briefing email.
 
Not all users will notice the feature at the same time since Microsoft has begun releasing the Daily Briefing on a rolling basis. When the Daily Briefing emails are received, the subject line will read “Your daily briefing” and will come from Cortana.  If Cortana does not find any suggestions, no briefing email will be sent for that day.
 
For more information, please refer to Microsoft’s Cortana Daily Briefings FAQ Page.
 
If you have further questions or concerns, please feel free to submit an ITS Service Request or contact the Shared Services Solution Center at 805-437-8552.

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Below please find a summary of activities & accomplishments for the department of Information Technology Services over the past month.

User Services

* Between May and October several User Services employees were reassigned work in other areas of IT to bolster efforts in Security and Project Management.  Current staff members covering User Services tasks and daily operations for the campus are:
    * Dawn Canfield
    * Alfredo Duenas
    * Omar Hernandez
    * Hai Le
    * Chris Murphy
    * Bill Ochs
    * Indy Valencia 

* Coordinated “best practices” demo of Service Now with UCLA.  16 CSUCI IT members attended.
* Presented ITS as part of the New Employee Orientation event hosted by HR
* Submitted the ATI Procurement Report
* Contributed to the Academic Lab Techs group meeting led by Phil Hampton
* Created new analysis reports for Extended University charge-back and promoted mechanism for recording labor charges for EU tickets
* Completed 219 work orders 

 

Application Services

* Development, Testing, Quality Assurance, and Move to Production completed or scheduled during October 2020:
* PMB Interface  - Retrofit Move to Production
* Canvas Interface – Retrofit Move to Production
* Appsain ERP Firewall – User Acceptance Testing and Quality Assurance
* EAB Enhancements – Unit Testing of Image and Note Uploads, Principal Development of Phone Number Additions 
* Transition of Web Applications from Freevo to .Net Core - Principle Development Continues
* Santa Rosa Island Web Application – Principle Development Continues
* Database Scripts for the following areas were developed and deployed during October 2020:
* Student Records (1) – Term Table
* Admissions (5) – Checklist Due Date, Basis of Admission, California Schools
* Mandated CI Records and CI Personnel PeopleTools 8.57 Upgrades Completed.
* Work Began on mandated CHRS Recruiting Project
* The Following Maintenance was performed:
* Non-Baseline Posting Veteran Benefits Modification was migrated to CI Records Test
* Non-Baseline Posting Multi-Factor Admissions Score (MFAS) was migrated to CI Records Test
* CHRS Recruiting PageUP Interfaces were installed in CI Personnel Test
* Maintenance Pack 13.00 installed in CI Records and CI Personnel Test
* Maintenance Pack 13.01 were installed in CI Records Test
* The Following Data Warehouse and Institutional Reporting Activity took place during October 2020:
* CFS Data Warehouse Integration with OneCI Data Warehouse Continues
* Data warehouse operational work for BFA, Student Affairs, Advancement and Academic Affairs 
* Application Services continued supporting the following operations and projects:
* CFS MP4.0 and AP Check Printer Template Coordination for BFA 
* CSU CMS - AWS Hybrid Cloud Project 
* Student Financials Fee Configuration
* Identity and Access Management Support
* CFS Related Support of BFA Operations 

 

Infrastructure

* Assisted with troubleshooting/diagnosis on campus fire alarm system
* Preparation for release of new version of Global Protect VPN client
* Upgraded software on campus firewallS
* Ongoing work on campus EPE (Emergency Preparedness Enhancements) [formerly SAFE] project – camera installs and prep
* Work with CAPS director on phone services and reporting
* Ongoing work on campus wifi refresh and potential parking lot wifi project
* Infrastructure prep and consultation on Police Dept. NextGen 911 upgrade
* Connected Dropbox and Gsuite to Microsoft’s CASB suite for cloud app security. This allows us to see malware that could be found on the platforms as well as other things like failed authentications and impossible travel. 
* Received our Student A3 licenses from SHI / Microsoft. Have only been manually assigning them to students who need access to certain O365 features.
* Ongoing transition of duties for retiring member 

 

Information Security

* In support of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Carlos Miranda coordinated and moderated the Professional Development webinar – “Smart Home - Do you have any of the following smart devices? Cameras, doorbells, smoke detectors, and other internet-enabled devices?” 
* Information Security created a webpage for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month / https://www.csuci.edu/its/security/cybersecurity-awareness.htm
* Met with various Anti-Virus vendors for replacement of Malwarebytes (Carbon Black, Sophos, Bitdefender, ESET)
* All 8 of the 9 Information Security Audit observations have been submitted and recommended for acceptance by CO Audit.  
* Continued work with ITS colleagues on various cross-department projects related to remote device patch management.
* Continued Monthly/Quarterly internal auditing 


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Email spoofing is a type of email scam in which the sender uses a falsified name or email address to fool recipients into thinking that the email is legitimate. Spoofed emails may be designed to appear to be from colleagues, friends, or family members in order to accomplish malicious goals. By impersonating a target’s known contacts, the scammer seeks to gain the target’s trust with the goal of obtaining sensitive information, propagating malware, or extorting funds. 

If you receive an email from a colleague containing this banner, it is advised to check with the sender at a known email address by phone, or via Teams to confirm that the email legitimately came from them. 

Beware the Signs of Spoofing Attacks: 

Spoofing emails may also contain links to false login pages that harvest users' credentials. To avoid falling victim to harvesting links, hover over hyperlinks (or tap and hold on mobile devices) in email messages to display the real Web address that they lead to. If the real address does not appear to be legitimate,  

If you suspect that you have received a phishing or spoofing email, it is advised to forward the email to the Information Security Team at infosec@csuci.edu. Through continued vigilance, you can help to create a more secure workplace. 
 

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Beginning November 2nd, 2020, ITS will begin using an updated version of Palo Alto GlobalProtect. Users will be prompted to download and install the updated version upon connecting. The updated version of GlobalProtect will also be available at https://vpn.csuci.edu, Software Center for Windows computers, and Self Service for Mac computers.

If you have any questions, please submit a new ITS Service Request.

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October is National CyberSecurity Awareness Month!

In support of this annual cybersecurity event, ITS Information Security in concert with Professional Development will be hosting a webinar on Thursday, October, 22 from 10:00am – 11:00am titled “BeCyberSmart | Securing your “Smart” Home”. 

Follow this link for additional information about this event including how to sign up please.   We encourage you to share this awareness opportunity with all of your staff. 

Thank you

ITS Information Security

Celebrate CyberSecyruity Awareness Month.  Do Your Part, be #BeCyberSmart.

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Zoom regularly provides new versions of the Zoom desktop client and mobile app to release new features and fix bugs. We recommend upgrading to the latest version once it is available.  

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A brief reminder that users can no longer use IE for accessing Dropbox.

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Microsoft has incorporated useful and fun new features in its latest version of Teams. These features are designed to make meetings more engaging and efficient in a remote work environment. To gain access to these features, please make sure that you update to the latest version of Microsoft Teams. 

• Controls to mute and unmute, toggle the camera on and off, chat, and leave the meeting are always visible at the top of the meeting window.
• The Large Gallery Mode, accessible from the three-dots menu in meetings, allows a total of 49 (7x7) video feeds to be displayed at once! To use Large Gallery Mode, a meeting must have at least 10 participants sharing their video.
• Although your colleagues may be far apart, Together Mode can bring them together in a virtual auditorium.

Together Mode

Microsoft Whiteboard 

Did you know that you can collaborate with team members in Teams meetings using Microsoft Whiteboard? Microsoft Whiteboard is a powerful collaboration tool that can be used as a canvas to visually express ideas. For more information about using Microsoft Whiteboard in Teams meetings, please refer to Use Whiteboard in Microsoft Teams. 

If you require further assistance with Microsoft Teams or its new features, please feel free to submit an ITS Service Request. 

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