Category Archives: ITS

Video Conferencing Tool for Middlebury: Zoom

We are pleased to introduce a new tool that will make communication and collaboration easier regardless of your location.

In the fall of 2016, a team representing Academic Technology, the Digital Learning Commons at Monterey, ITS, and the Office of Digital Learning set out to identify a new video conferencing solution that would improve the ways we communicate and work with each other across Middlebury. The team selected Zoom Video Conferencing as the tool that best met Middlebury’s needs, and initiated a pilot program in January 2017. Due to the overwhelmingly positive feedback from academic and administrative groups, Middlebury is now making Zoom available to all users.

Zoom works with our existing video conferencing rooms and includes features such as video calls with up to 100 participants, screen sharing, breakout groups, webinars, and more. It’s quick to download and easy to use. Zoom will completely replace the Polycom software by January 1st, 2018. If you use a dedicated Polycom video conferencing unit in conjunction with an office or conference room monitor, it will continue to function and you can use it together with Zoom by dialing your Zoom meeting as described in our documentation.

To start using Zoom, please visit http://middlebury.zoom.us and sign in with your Middlebury credentials. We hope that you will find Zoom convenient and useful in your work. We invite your comments and suggestions about the service and our communications regarding it. You can submit feedback here.

For more information, please visit the Zoom web page.
For questions and other support, please visit the support page.

A tour of Middlebury’s wireless network

Please join us for a special ITS Tech Partners meeting.  Rick James, our wireless network administrator, will provide a behind the scenes tour of Middlebury’s wireless network.  He’ll start with some basic information about how wireless networking works and how it is different than wired networking.  He’ll then describe Middlebury’s wireless architecture and how it has evolved over the last several years, including the recent extension to our Monterey, CA campus so that now wireless at MIDD and MIIS operate as one logical wireless network.  Rick will demonstrate how we use some of our monitoring tools to plan our wireless network deployment through a building, how we troubleshoot issues, measure performance and capacity.  Additionally, Rick recently analyzed a student survey of our wireless services, he’ll share the results and seek your input on constructing a similar survey for faculty and staff.

If you ever wonder how wifi works and Middlebury future plans for wireless, be sure to attend this ITS Tech Partners meeting.  All are welcome, please share with others you think might be interested.

When:  Wednesday, July 26, 2017 from 3:00 – 4:00 pm ET

Where:  Library 145 and Zoom:  https://middlebury.zoom.us/j/9445370958

New Library Water Fountain Helps the Environment and Those with Disabilities

In case you are wondering what that noise is on the main floor of the Davis Family Library today, it is the installation of a new ADA-compliant water fountain that is designed to fill water bottles too.  The Library Space Team successfully applied for an Environmental Council grant to cover the cost for one.  The fountain will count the number of times a water bottle / glass is filled.  Next time you are thinking of buying bottled water, think instead about using a refillable container (and thus avoid landfill waste or the energy and financial costs of recycling).  It will also be the only ADA-compliant fountain in the Library, so if someone in a wheelchair needs a water fountain, be sure to direct them to this one, which is just opposite the print copy room on the main level.

 

@MiddInfoSec Phishing Alert: don’t fall for “Thammasat Great Journal, Thailand” scam email

Be on the alert for a suspicious email purportedly sent from “thammasat@goconnext.com” with the subject line “Thammasat Great Journal, Thailand“. This is a confirmed phishing message, designed to trick you into downloading a malicious file. Do not click on the links in the message or reply to the message. If you find a copy of the message in your inbox, please delete it. If you find a copy of this message in your spam quarantine, please ignore it and do not release it. The message will be deleted from your quarantine automatically in the next few days.

 For more information about phishing attacks, please visit http://go.middlebury.edu/phishing. For more information about the spam quarantine, please visit http://go.middlebury.edu/spam.

12122016-phish

@MiddInfoSec Phishing Alert: don’t fall for “Thammasat Great Journal, Thailand” scam email

Be on the alert for a suspicious email purportedly sent from “thammasat@goconnext.com” with the subject line “Thammasat Great Journal, Thailand“. This is a confirmed phishing message, designed to trick you into downloading a malicious file. Do not click on the links in the message or reply to the message. If you find a copy of the message in your inbox, please delete it. If you find a copy of this message in your spam quarantine, please ignore it and do not release it. The message will be deleted from your quarantine automatically in the next few days.

 For more information about phishing attacks, please visit http://go.middlebury.edu/phishing. For more information about the spam quarantine, please visit http://go.middlebury.edu/spam.

12122016-phish

New Public Library_Printers

ITS has replaced the printers with paper decks in Davis Library 142, 242 and 303 along with the two in Armstrong library. The new devices are Konica Minolta multi-function copier/printers. They look very similar to the Library_Color printers in LIB 142 and Armstrong lower level, but they only print in black and white. We have removed all print-release stations since users can now log into Papercut using the touch screen on the device.  Signage has been posted on the wall above each machine providing the new instructions.

 

 

 

Protect your Middlebury Account with Multi-Factor Authentication

Multi-Factor Authentication is a security technology that helps protect your Middlebury account from potential compromise by requiring the use of more than just a username and password to prove your identity during login.

mfa1

Learn more about how you can start using Multi-Factor Authentication today to better protect your Middlebury account at http://go.middlebury.edu/mfa.

What does Multi-Factor Authentication mean for me?

Perhaps, after reading ITS’ recent announcement about “Multi-Factor Authentication”, you might be wondering, just what do this have to do with me?

Multi-Factor Authentication is one of the simplest and most effective steps that you can take to protect your Middlebury account and we’ve taken every possible step to make Multi-Factor Authentication simple and convenient.

ITS is introducing Multi-Factor Authentication because it has become increasingly obvious that passwords alone are not enough to protect your Middlebury account from being compromised. Multi-Factor Authentication is a tool that you can use to protect your Middlebury account. Using Multi-Factor Authentication protects you and, by extension, helps to safeguard the entire Middlebury College community.

Multi-Factor Authentication introduces one additional step during the login process to help ensure that it is really you and not someone else who has your password. It works by requiring a verification by phone in addition to your password. Any phone will work, including your office phone, your home phone, a regular cell phone, or a smartphone (like an iPhone or Android phone). You can even substitute a tablet, like an iPad, for the phone.

Multi-Factor Authentication image from http://it.miami.edu/

This extra verification step is only required if you are off-campus, and you have the option to only be prompted for the extra challenge once every 30 days (per device). The extra verification currently protects your email and Office 365 services, though ITS plans to expand Multi-Factor Authentication to additional services in the future.

Remember: you will only be prompted for the extra verification step if you are off-campus.

So, if you are off-campus, and trying to access email or Office 365, you will have to enter your username and password, just like normal, and then you will have to respond to an extra security challenge, by either answering your phone, typing in a verification code sent to your phone via text message, tapping “verify” on a mobile app notification, or typing in a verification code sent to you via the mobile app.

This extra step means that, even if someone has your password, they can’t access your account. They would still need to have access to your phone, to answer that extra security challenge, before they could get in.

If you are ready to get started with Multi-Factor Authentication, here’s what to do next:

  1. If you run the Microsoft Office suite (Outlook, Word, Excel, etc..), then the first thing you need to do is upgrade to Office 2016. Multi-Factor Authentication does not work with Office 2010. Visit http://go.middlebury.edu/office2016 for details.
  2. Before you start the Multi-Factor Authentication enrollment process, you should decide how you want to be verified: Office phone, home phone, or mobile phone.
    • Phone call, text, or mobile app. If you are using a mobile phone, you can choose between receiving a phone call, a text message, or using the mobile app.
    • Mobile app with a notification or verification code. If you opt to use the mobile app, choose between receiving a notification that you respond to, or a verification code.
  3. Submit a request to have Multi-Factor Authentication enabled on your account at http://go.middlebury.edu/getmfa.
  4. Complete the Multi-Factor Authentication setup process.

Note that you will be asked to set up a primary and a backup contact method during the setup process, and you can choose between all of the options that you have configured.

The enrollment process only takes a couple of minutes to complete, but we do have to enable your account for Multi-Factor Authentication before you can get started. To request multi-factor authentication, please visit http://go.middlebury.edu/getmfa, and submit a help desk ticket.

For more information on Multi-Factor Authentication, including tips to help ensure a quick and easy enrollment and setup, please review the Multi-Factor Authentication wiki at http://go.middlebury.edu/mfa.

Please note: This post is inspired by an article written by Kelly Gremban, at Microsoft, entitled, “What does Azure Multi-Factor Authentication mean for me?” A link to the original article can be found below.

References:

What does Azure Multi-Factor Authentication mean for me?
Kelly Gremban, Microsoft, August 22nd, 2016
https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/documentation/articles/multi-factor-authentication-end-user/ 

Multi-Factor Authentication image from http://it.miami.edu/

@MiddInfoSec – Phishing Alert: don’t fall for “EMPLOYEE PAYROLL.” scam email

Be on the alert for a suspicious email purportedly sent from “SENDER” with the subject line ” EMPLOYEE PAYROLL.”. This is a confirmed phishing message, designed to trick you into divulging your username and password. If you find a copy of this message in your spam quarantine, please ignore it. If you find a copy of the message in your inbox, please delete it. If you find this message in your spam quarantine, do not release it. It will be deleted automatically in the next few days. Do not click on the links in the message or reply to the message.

 

For more information about phishing attacks, please visit http://go.middlebury.edu/phishing.  For more information about the spam quarantine, please visit http://go.middlebury.edu/spam.

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@MiddInfoSec: “Middlebury College!” A Well Crafted Phishing Attack Looks to Come from the College

Warning! Over the past couple of days Middlebury College has been the target of a well-crafted  phishing campaign. Phishing messages are email messages designed to trick you into divulging your username and password. In this case, the phishing messages were written so that they looked like they were sent from Middlebury’s Department of Public Safety. An example of this phishing message is included below.

Middlebury’s email system was able to filter the vast majority of these phishing messages, delivering them into each recipient’s Spam Quarantines. Even with this protection, however, a few individuals released the messages from their quarantines, opened  the messages, and clicked on the phishing links therein.

Always use caution with quarantined messages. The quarantine is specifically designed to protect you from phishing attacks crafted to trick you into divulging your Middlebury account username and password.  If you have any questions about a quarantined message, contact the Help Desk or send a note to phishing@middlebury.edu. We would be glad to help.

Sample Phishing Message:

phish-1062016

For more information on phishing please visit http://go.middlebury.edu/phish. For additional details about spam filtering and the spam quarantine, please review Spam Filtering at Middlebury.