CNAC Reauthentication

6 01 2011

On January 12th, and regularly on the second Wednesday of every month, IT Services is going to require all faculty and staff to enter their username and password (as you would if you were to log on to my.scranton) in order to get internet access. This allows IT to ensure that your computer has the most up to date security software and protection.

On January 6th, faculty and staff received the following e-mail from IT Services:

As part of Information Resources’ continuing effort to enhance our services and increase our information security posture, the Cisco Network Access Control (CNAC) will require individuals to re-authenticate to gain network access on a monthly basis.

On Wednesday, January 12th all end-users should expect to enter their University username and password into the CNAC agent before gaining access to any network resources. This process will allow us to continually assess the validity and health of our computing environment. The CNAC re-authentication process will routinely occur on the second Wednesday of each month.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we implement these changes. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Technology Support Center at 570-941-HELP or at techsupport@scranton.edu

Click here for more information on CNAC authentication.

Click here for a detailed discussion of the new CNAC security procedures.


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CNAC Reminder… and Brown Bag Postponement

9 11 2010

Just a reminder that we’ll all have to log in to Cisco NAC Agent tomorrow morning in order to be able to access the University network.

Also, the Provost’s office is trying to reschedule this week’s Brown Bag on the CMS.  It seemed like this Thursday wasn’t a good time for most people. We’ll keep you updated on any new dates and times.


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Categories : Announcements, CMS and University Website, Network and Infrastructure, Security

CNAC Update

3 11 2010

IT services sent out another CNAC update today.  What’s CNAC, you ask? Take a look at Jeremy’s monster explanation from back in September.

Bottom line of this latest update is that anyone using a University-owned desktop computer will have to log in to CNAC again next Wednesday (11/10) and then monthly after that to use the University network.

Here’s the full text:

In a continuing effort to enhance our services and increase our information security posture, Information Resources will be implementing changes to the Cisco Network Access Control (CNAC) system. The CNAC system, which was recently deployed campus-wide to Staff and Faculty machines, helps us validate that only authorized users are able to access network resources (Banner, Internet, etc). Additionally, CNAC will help us monitor the “health” (up-to-date patches, operating systems, etc) of the desktops that are connecting to our network.

During the deployment of CNAC, end-users were prompted by the CNAC agent to enter their University username and password once, thereafter allowing them to gain access to network resources. All end-users will be required to re-authenticate to the network via the CNAC client on a monthly basis. This will initially occur on Wednesday, November 10th. End-users should expect to enter their University username and password into the CNAC agent before gaining access to network resources. This process will allow us to continually assess the validity and health of our computing environment.  The CNAC re-authentication process will routinely occur on the second Wednesday of each month beginning in January 2011.

Additional information can be found in the announcements section of the my.scranton portal.  We thank you for your patience and understanding as we implement these changes.   If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Technology Support Center at 570-941-HELP or at techsupport@scranton.edu

 

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Note: Updated for clarification at 3pm 11/3/10.


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More IT Forum updates

19 10 2010

I’ll post the slides from today’s IT Forum when they’re available, but in the meantime here’s what I thought was the most important news from Jim Franceschelli’s talk on “Desktops of the Future”:

  • Windows 7 will be rolling out around November, since Windows XP Extended Support is ending.  IR computers will get the rollout first (probably this month).
  • IR will be setting up standard user accounts on University-owned computers.  These user accounts will limit what applications users can install, in order to make the campus more secure.  MOST applications will be blocked, but some whitelisted applications (e.g., iTunes) will be allowed.  This has me a little concerned – it seems like an area where we’ll need a lot of communication between IR and faculty to make sure that faculty can download and install the applications they need on their desktops.
  • IR will also soon be rolling out Active Directory, a tool that will sync your Windows account – so that you’ll be able to access to mapped drives, etc from any computer on campus.
  • IR is encouraging everyone to delete any personally identifiable information (PII) from their computers.  A tool called Identity Finder will be rolled out soon that will try to locate what it thinks is PII on your desktop and then give you the option to delete or encrypt it.
  • Remote desktop assistance will be available soon – this will allow IR staff members to remotely connect to your system, making repairs faster and making the TSC more efficient.
  • The University is heading towards a virtual desktop environment (where all data is stored on Royal Drive and access to your “desktop” is via a thin client on a terminal).  IR already has the thin client and will be testing it later this month.  The current plan is to set up a prototype lab in January to be tested by users in Spring 2011.

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More Phishing

18 10 2010

IR sent out another memo today about phishing – the email went out to all faculty (wahoo!) in addition to being posted to the my.scranton portal.  If you missed it:

Over the past weekend, several University members have received phishing emails.   Phishing is where you receive an email from what appears to be the University, your bank, or other financial institution, requesting you to reset or confirm your security details.  The scams often urge individuals to follow a link and enter their username and passwords.  However, these links will usually take you to a fake website with the aim of getting hold of your personal or financial details to defraud you.

IT Services urges all users not to follow links sent in email requesting your username and passwords.  Any information that the University of Scranton needs will be posted within the my.scranton Portal.  Emails guiding individuals to click on a link should be ignored.   Authorized emails sent by IT Services will be of an informative nature only.  They will not contain links and will not request that you provide any personal information.

If you received emails that are in question, please contact the Technology Support Center at extension 4357. 


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CNAC Deployment Feedback?

8 10 2010

The Library was the last building on the CNAC Deployment schedule – and we’re hitting a few rough spots today after this morning’s rollout.  How did the deployment go for everyone else? Any issues that the TSC hasn’t been able to resolve?


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Want a chance to Win an iPad?!

6 10 2010

Then go to my.scranton.edu and change your password!

As October is National Cyber Security Month, the folks over at IR are providing us with an incentive to help shore-up the security holes in our university.  One of the biggest holes is old passwords.  As per the mailer that I received in my mailbox today, anyone who changes their password during the month of October is entered into a drawing for a free iPad! (Who says our IR department doesn’t support Macs! ;-) )

To do this, log in to my.scranton.edu, click on the Faculty Tab, click Self-Service UIS, and your first link should be “Change your Single Sign On Password”.  Click there, enter your old PIN, then enter your new PIN.  Your new password needs to be 9-15 characters long, with at least one letter and one number.  Add some special characters (!@#%# and the like) to make it even better!

The only thing that I want to know is… if I change my password multiple times in October do I get extra chances to win?


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University Email Blacklist Update

29 09 2010

IT Services just sent this out to all faculty via email (it’s also been posted to Bboard, and should be up on the portal soon) —

We have been experiencing intermittent problems with outgoing email delivery from the University’s email servers since last week.  This problem is a result of the phishing attack on September 20th when several campus members responded to an email requesting the password to their email account; this information was then used to generate thousands of spam emails from these compromised email accounts. Because of this, University email has been blacklisted on the mail servers of numerous external organizations. This blacklisted status can be in place for up to 30 days depending on the organization’s security policies. If you attempt to send an email to one of these organizations it will “bounce back” to your email inbox as undeliverable.

Our IT Infrastructure group has stopped the spam emails being sent from these University accounts and is working with AOL, EPIX and the other Internet Service Providers to restore the ability for University email to be received. For the next 30 days, we recommend that you ask recipients of mission critical email to call or text you if the email isn’t received within four hours. Please report any email “bounce backs” to the Technology Support Center at (941-HELP or techsupport@scranton.edu), this will assist us with monitoring the situation and getting the University off of blacklisted sites.

We appreciate your patience and remind all campus community members that you should never share your University account passwords with anyone.


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Another Email Scam

22 09 2010

This morning, many University email accounts received an email ostensibly from one of our former faculty members (Scott Bader-Saye) requesting financial assistance.  The Technology Support Center has confirmed that this email message is a scam and should be ignored and deleted.

Thanks to the Provost’s office for emailing the University Community with this information right away!


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University Phishing Attempt

20 09 2010

An e-mail from “The University of Scranton” (vc@scranton.edu) with the subject “Warning” is a phishing attempt. DO NOT CLICK ANY LINKS FROM THIS EMAIL!

Notice that the links in the e-mail do NOT point to any university of scranton website. DO NOT follow any links or reply to the email address. The text of the e-mail is below.

Your web mail account will be deleted in the next 24 hours due to congestion in The University of Scranton web mail user account. However if you wish to continue using your web mail account. you will have to confirm that is a present use account by clicking the secure Link Below. The personal information requested is for the safety of your account. Please leave all information

click here:secure login

click here:email activation

Warning!!! Failure to update correctly within 24 hours of receiving this warning will lose your email permanently.
Thanks

Vice-Chancellor

Copyright ©2010 The University of Scranton


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