OIT News – March 2009

OIT News
Monthly news briefs, information and announcements
Office of Information Technology, NC State University
Issue 17, March 2009
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For the up-to-the minute reports on OIT systems, see SysNews:
http://sysnews.ncsu.edu
For help with computing problems, contact the NC State University Help Desk:
http://help.ncsu.edu

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01: WolfWise team proceeds with migration plans for GroupWise and Oracle users
02: OIT reduces campus phone charges for FY 2009-10
03: Be sensitive to case in your password–a change!
04: OIT seeks feedback on software applications in Windows Unity labs
05: A conversation with Dr. Marc Hoit: First 100 days as CIO
06: Students and faculty are now using new SIS
07: SAS and JMP software licenses renewed
08: Three security essentials for your PC
09: Back by demand: Facebook Brown Bag Lunch and Learn session
10: SAR training scheduled for March 24
11: OIT offers free workshops, custom training
12: Install new university-provided Trend Micro antivirus software now! 

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01: WolfWise team proceeds with migration plans for GroupWise and Oracle users
The WolfWise implementation team continues to move forward with the migration of both current GW customers and Oracle customers to the new WolfWise system. WolfWise is NC State’s implementation of Novell GroupWise for its single centrally supported calendaring and email solution for faculty and staff.

The WolfWise Web site will have weekly updates posted every Monday giving support staff and other interested parties information on the implementation team’s goals for the upcoming week.

Pending successful testing of the WolfWise environment, current GroupWise users will be moved to WolfWise on Saturday, April 4. OIT will send users a minimum one-week reminder notice of the upcoming move. This move will have the following effects:

  • Current GroupWise users’ passwords will be synched to their Unity (Portal) passwords.
  • Additionally, the new WolfWise address book will display the customer’s preferred name as it is listed in the NC State online campus directory. Please check the campus directory at https://ssl.ncsu.edu/directory/updatelisting.php to make sure that your preferred name appears correctly (e.g., Greg instead of Gregory).
  • Current GroupWise users will remain on the existing time-based retention policy.

Oracle users have a tentative migration date of Saturday, May 16. Again, this migration date is dependent upon successful testing of the new environment. Final testing will begin shortly, and regular updates will be posted on the WolfWise Web site. Information sessions as well as training sessions will be announced for campus Oracle customers and IT staff, as the team gets closer to the migration date. In addition, if you would like to arrange for WolfWise team members to come to a staff meeting or talk to your department or users, please send a request to classreg@ncsu.edu. You may also continue to check the WolfWise Web site for information and training session schedules.

If you have any questions or feedback, please send them to the WolfWise implementation team via the feedback form on the WolfWise Web site.

Note: The WolfWise web site is no longer available.
02: OIT reduces campus phone charges for FY 2009-10
In light of the current budget situation, OIT will be offering a one-time adjustment to the campus phone rate for fiscal year 2009-10. Through operating efficiencies, reduction in expenditures and a one-time allocation from Finance and Business, next year’s phone rate will be $7 per line per month instead of the normal $9 charge. Campus departments will see the reduced rates beginning in their July phone bills. The normal rate is expected to resume in fiscal year 2010-11.
03: Be sensitive to case in your password–a change!
You may not realize it, but when you log in to some of the university’s online applications, it may not matter if you use uppercase or lowercase letters in your password. Starting April 12, 2009, the case of the letters will be checked on all systems. This change will help maximize the strength of your password.

For more information about strong passwords, including setting up three questions for user identification and authentication (UIA), which can be used by the Help Desk to reset your password, visit the Password Change Tool Web page.

04: OIT seeks feedback on software applications in Windows Unity labs
OIT needs your help! We are conducting a survey of the university community to determine what software applications and their versions best suit the teaching and learning needs in the NC State Windows Unity labs. Faculty and staff can provide their feedback by completing the Windows Lab Application Survey by March 31. This survey provides the means to recommend the addition of new applications or the removal of some of the lesser used ones. For more information, contact Bill Coker, software licensing manager, at bill_coker@ncsu.edu.
05: A conversation with Dr. Marc Hoit: First 100 days as CIO
Straight forward and on point, CIO Marc Hoit delivers an informative and lively interview with OIT employee Jason Austin. The five-part interview covers Dr. Hoit’s first 100 days in office as well as his views on OIT’s role on campus, funding approaches, web hosting, social networking, open standards and protocols, and more. The interview can be viewed in the Campus Spotlight section of the NCSU Web Developers Ning group.
06: Students and faculty are now using new SIS
The Student Information System (SIS) implementation team reports that students began registering on March 10 for summer and fall 2009 classes using the new SIS in the MyPack Portal. Advisors are also using the Faculty Center and Admin Services pages in SIS to release advising holds for their students.

07: SAS and JMP software licenses renewed
NC State has renewed all licenses for SAS and JMP software through Dec. 31, 2009. Individuals who need to update their licenses should visit the Software Licensing Web site. A list of available SAS and JMP licenses is also included on this Web site.

08: Three security essentials for your PC
OIT Security and Compliance investigated in February 128 individual PC infections or attacks, the highest monthly volume and three to four times the typical monthly volume. Campus users could have avoided almost all of these computer infections by making sure three security essentials were active and up-to-date on their PCs: software firewalls, antivirus software and automatic security updates.

A software firewall prevents unauthorized users from gaining real-time access to your computer through a network or via the Internet. University-maintained PCs typically use the Windows firewall provided with the operating system by Microsoft, but this must be turned on and left on.

Antivirus software detects and removes various kinds of malware such as computer viruses, worms, Trojan horses, most rootkits, spyware, dishonest adware, crimeware, and other malicious and unwanted software. Your antivirus software must be installed, active and up-to-date in order to be effective. The antivirus software should also be set up to periodically scan storage such as hard drives in order to detect and remove stored copies of malware. It is also important that the antivirus software be configured to use automatic processes to update the antivirus software as well as the signature files for detecting viruses, as these may change several times a day in response to newly detected malware. NC State provides free antivirus software. To download the latest version, visit the NC State Antivirus Resources Web site.

Automatic security updates keep operating systems (and other software products) version levels and patches up to date. Software vendors release security fixes (“patches”) for their software on a regular basis. Microsoft Windows provides a tool called Microsoft Update, which generally may be accessed from the “Start – All_Programs” button, to keep Windows and Office software patches current. It is also particularly important to patch other vendor provided software. Patching processes for these products are typically provided from a tools menu option within each product. These update options should be set to automatically update your computer when new patches are available, unless the computers are maintained by OIT Client Services (CS). CS uses a product called Patchlink to keep most software products current with tested patches on the PCs they maintain, including Microsoft Windows and Office products.

You can check the status of these three security essentials on your Windows computer by going to the Windows Security Center. To open the Security Center, click Start, select Settings and choose Control Panel, and then double-click Security Center. If you have a network administrator who manages your security settings, then the Security Center does not display your security status or send you alerts.
09: Back by demand: Facebook Brown Bag Lunch and Learn session
OIT is once again sponsoring the Brown Bag Lunch and Learn session, “Quickstart Guide to Facebook,” from 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, March 23 in 216 Scott Hall. Facebook is a free social networking Web site that allows people to interact and share information. Participants will learn how to set up their Facebook profile, connect with co-workers and friends, protect their privacy, navigate around pages, and communicate using the Facebook Wall and Inbox. To register, visit ClassMate.

10: SAR training scheduled for March 24
Security Access Request (SAR) training for campus requestors and approvers is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, March 24 in the Hillsborough Building Training Lab. Please visit the Training Web site to view available classes and to sign up for training.
11: OIT offers free workshops, custom training
OIT offers a variety of free, hands-on computer workshops to NC State students, faculty and staff.

Workshops offered include MS Office 2007, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Unity, Computer Security, Contribute, InDesign, Photoshop, Mac OS applications, and multimedia applications. All workshops are free, but registration is required. To view our schedule of workshops and to register, visit Classmate.

Custom training is also available for classrooms, departments and offices and is designed to meet specific training needs based on the NC State computing environment. To request a custom workshop visit OIT Technology Workshops.

 

 

12: Install new university-provided Trend Micro antivirus software now! 
OIT is advising all NC State students, faculty and staff to immediately upgrade their antivirus software to the new Trend Micro OfficeScan 8 for Windows and Intego VirusBarrier X5 for Mac OS X. Antivirus protection is required of all students, faculty and staff connecting to the campus network, and it is available free of charge.

Trend Micro, which replaces Symantec as NC State’s official provider of antivirus client products, offers better virus protection for campus users and more reliable updates. The license agreement for Symantec antivirus software will expire on June 22, 2009, and all NC State-provided Symantec products will cease updating on that date.

Upgrading your antivirus software now before final exams and end-of-semester pressures arrive will not only allow for a smoother transition, but will ensure that you have the most up-to-date virus protection on your computer.

For more information about the new Trend Micro antivirus software or to download the software, please visit the NC State Antivirus Resources Web site. If you have any questions, please contact the NC State Help Desk at help@ncsu.edu or 515-HELP (4357).


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For help with computing at NC State, contact the NC State Help Desk:
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