OIT News – March 2016

OIT News

Monthly news briefs, information and announcements
Office of Information Technology, NC State University
Issue 101, March 2016

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Follow OIT on Twitter @NCStateOIT
For up-to-the-minute reports on OIT systems, see SysNews
For help with computing problems, contact the NC State Help Desk

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01: NC State to upgrade Shibboleth authentication service
02: Central IT extended maintenance scheduled for April 2-3
03: OIT to deploy Identity Finder to PCI merchants
04: WolfPrint FollowMe printers now support Google Cloud Print
05: Learn about Green IT at NC State Earth Fair
06: Use your voice to dictate new commands in Google Docs!
07: Get started with new Google Apps courses and more!
08: SAR training scheduled for April 20
09: Secure your mobile device

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01: NC State to upgrade Shibboleth authentication service
Effective Wednesday, May 11 at 7 a.m., NC State will perform a major upgrade from Shibboleth V2 to V3 that may impact the availability of all campus systems using the authentication service. Effective July 31, V2 will no longer be supported.

Campus systems that will be impacted by the upgrade include, but are not limited to:

  • MyPack Portal
  • ServiceNow
  • Web Leave
  • Moodle, WolfWare and other DELTA resources
  • Numerous departmental-hosted and unit-hosted services

The upgrade also will impact non-NC State and third-party services that utilize the authentication service.

How you will be impacted

  • Password expiration will be enforced for all Shibboleth logins. You will no longer be allowed to log in to accounts that have exceeded their password expiration. All logins must be made from an active account.
  • You will need to reauthorize your attribute releases on initial login to a site. Attribute releases provide information about you (e.g., campus affiliation, mail ID, password expiration) that will be shared with the service you are requesting to access.
  • You will receive an Impending Password Expiration warning 14 days in advance of your password expiration date. You can opt to change your password then or wait until it expires.

Earlier this year, NC State leveraged its InCommon participation via Shibboleth to offer single sign-on convenience to 40 other international federations via the eduGAIN global inter-federation service. For more information on eduGAIN, see the SysNews announcement.

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02: Central IT extended maintenance scheduled for April 2-3
OIT will perform extended maintenance affecting multiple core components of the campus primary data centers from 6 a.m. Saturday, April 2 to to 6 p.m. Sunday, April 3.

OIT services with dependencies on Data Center 1 (DC1) or Data Center 2 (DC2) may be degraded or unavailable for extended periods during the maintenance window. Services expected to be offline for the majority of the maintenance window include, but are not limited to:

  • MyPack Portal
  • Human Resources, Financial and Student systems
  • OIT backup services
  • Virtual Computing Lab (VCL) services
  • WolfPrint services
  • Authenticated SMTP to smtp.ncsu.edu (See IMAP Settings.)
  • conferences.ncsu.edu

No new accounts will be created on Saturday, April 2.

Services that may experience intermittent periods of unavailability or slow performance during the maintenance window include, but are not limited to:

  • Shibboleth (Sites using Shibboleth for authentication will be impacted.)
  • www.ncsu.edu (NC State’s home page)
  • High Performance Computing (HPC) cluster, including access to storage from HPC nodes
  • SysNews
  • AFS hosted sites
  • cPanel, Hosted WordPress and WordPress blogs
  • LDAP (Updates will be available after the maintenance is completed.)
  • Kerberos
  • OIT hosted systems
  • Networked Attached Storage (NAS) shares and exports

Other planned extended maintenance windows that can possibly impact IT services include:

  • Saturday, Sept. 17, 2016 through Sunday, Sept. 18, 2016
  • Saturday, Nov. 5, 2016 through Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016

For scheduled system changes and updates, see the Change Management Calendar or visit SysNews. If you have any questions, contact the NC State Help Desk at help@ncsu.edu or 919.515.4357 (HELP).

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03: OIT to deploy Identity Finder to PCI merchants
To meet the requirements for compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), OIT Security and Compliance has acquired Identity Finder (IDF), data security software that searches for and identifies any payment card data that is stored on local or network drives.  

Recently, OIT encountered performance issues during the initial pilot of IDF to OIT-managed workstations. OIT is in the process of repackaging and testing a new version of the client that will be available to campus PCI merchants soon.

Once available, IDF will be installed on any workstation that:

  • processes payment card data,
  • may have processed payment card data, or
  • is used for accessing payment reports.

OIT will be responsible for deploying it to workstations that are in the OIT-managed desktop environment (OITMD). Campus IT staff will be responsible for the deployment and support of the IDF client in departments that are not OITMD customers. OIT will communicate to individuals who need to have the software installed on their computers once the package is ready.

If you are a merchant, please refer to the IDF Merchant List to help you to locate workstations in your area that may have been used to process credit cards. This list contains current as well as previous merchant account information that may contain incorrect contact data. Rows that are highlighted in green and in yellow denote OIT-managed desktop customers. If you have questions regarding the merchant information in the list, contact Merchant Services at merchantservices@ncsu.edu.

More information about IDF can be found on the Sensitive Information Identification and Remediation (SIIR) website, which also provides information about the process to handle and remove any credit card data. If you have any questions regarding the IDF deployment, contact the NC State Help Desk at help@ncsu.edu or 919.515.4357 (HELP).

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04: WolfPrint FollowMe printers now support Google Cloud Print
Need a hard copy of your work or study notes or research article while you’re on the go? It’s easy to print from your personal mobile device with Google Cloud Print.

Google Cloud Print allows you to print files from your smartphone, tablet, Chromebook, and Android devices to campus WolfCopy printers that support WolfPrint FollowMe Printing. You must be logged in to your Google Apps @ NC State (@ncsu.edu) account when printing to WolfPrint printers through Cloud Print.

With Google Cloud Print, you can also print Google file types from any browser using Google Drive on supported Web-connected devices. In addition, you can upload a PDF directly from the Google Drive page.

For more information, see Google Cloud Print-Instructions.

For a list of virtual printers that support Cloud Print, see WolfPrint FollowMe Printing.

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05: Learn about Green IT at NC State Earth Fair
How can you make the world a better place? Learn more about Green IT!

During NC State Earth Fair on Wednesday, April 13 from 10 a.m .to 2 p.m. in the Brickyard, OIT will have interactive and fun activities to show you how to:

  • reduce the university’s carbon footprint,
  • conserve and protect IT resources, and
  • recycle electronics.

Stop by our tent! The NC State Earth Fair is one of many activities sponsored by the NC State Sustainability Office during Earth Month to show you how to make the world a safer and cleaner place.

For more information about Earth Month activities, see the Sustainability Office’s Earth Month website.

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06: Use your voice to dictate new commands in Google Docs!
Google has introduced new voice commands in Google Docs that will make it easier for you to dictate your words with Voice Typing.

When Voice Typing was first introduced in Google Docs, it was difficult for the program to dictate formatting (e.g., align center, copy, insert bullet, bold) or even punctuation (e.g., exclamation mark, period, comma). If you wanted to dictate Hello! in Google Docs previously, the end result might have been Hello exclamation mark.

To initiate formatting tools with the new voice commands in Docs, simply:

  1. Pause.
  2. Issue a command.
  3. Pause.
  4. Resume dictating.

To see a list of all voice commands, check out Type with your voice or say voice commands help while you’re voice typing. Voice commands are available only in English.

To learn more about Voice Typing and other new Google features like the Forms interface and the profile icon for Google account owners without Google+ enabled, check out the latest edition of What’s New: Google Apps.

For training tips, follow the NC State Google Services Team on Google+. To view upcoming workshops, visit Classmate.  

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07: Get started with new Google Apps courses and more!
OIT has scheduled the following training sessions.

  • Accelerated Gmail will be offered on Thursday, March 17 from 9 a.m. to noon in Room 110 of the Avent Ferry Technology Center. Hold on tight as an OIT trainer races through the most beneficial tools Gmail has to offer. This three-hour session covers the basic and advanced features of Gmail including creating labels and filters and adding calendar events and tasks. To register, visit Classmate.
  • Scheduling a Google Hangout on Air will be offered on Tuesday, March 22 from noon to 1 p.m. in Room 110 of the Avent Ferry Technology Center. Are you interested in scheduling a Hangout on Air (HOA) to broadcast a presentation, meeting or Web event to a large audience? If so, then register for this session to learn simple steps to organize a HOA along with best practices to conduct a session. Also learn how to manage your event and utilize tools in Google+ and YouTube to enhance the viewer’s experience. To register, visit Classmate.
  • Gmail: Advanced Productivity will be offered on Wednesday, March 23 and Tuesday, April 19 from 9 a.m. to noon in Room 110 of the Avent Ferry Technology Center. Building on Gmail: More than your Inbox, this advanced hands-on workshop takes Gmail to the next level. You will learn more about creating labels, filters and canned responses, scheduling Google Calendar Events and Hangouts, and using Google Drive through Gmail, along with any planned or newly released features. To register, visit Classmate.
  • OIT-Managing OS X with Casper Suite will be offered from 8:30 a.m. to noon on Thursday, March 24 in Room B3 of the Hillsborough Building. Learn how to use the Casper Suite to manage OS X devices running the latest OS versions (10.10+). To register, visit Classmate.
  • Create, Collaborate & Get Organized with Google Drive will be offered on Wednesday, March 30 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in Room 110 of the Avent Ferry Technology Center. In this hands-on workshop, you will learn how to use Drive in a collaborative environment, including editing a file simultaneously with other people, securing a document through file sharing permissions, and creating files for use by a group of colleagues or friends. For this workshop, you will need to have an active NC State University Unity account with access to Google Apps at NC State. If you would prefer using your own laptop or other mobile device, feel free to bring it. To register, visit Classmate.
  • Add-ons, Extensions, & Apps will be offered online on Thursday, March 31 from noon to 1 p.m. Are you maximizing your productivity in Google Apps with add-ons, extensions and apps? In this Hangout on Air (HOA), you will learn the difference between the three tools and how to customize your Google Apps experience to get more done. Visit the Google+ event page to find out more information, sign up to attend and add the event to your calendar.
  • Gmail: More than your Inbox will be offered on Tuesday, April 5 from 9 a.m. to noon in Room 110 of the Avent Ferry Technology Center. There is more to Gmail than just composing, replying to and forwarding messages. This workshop will provide an in-depth overview of Gmail features including an emphasis on labels and search tools, contacts management, chat, tasks, settings, labs, and new features. To register, visit Classmate.
  • Mobile Security for iOS Devices (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch) will be offered on Wednesday, April 6 from noon to 1 p.m. in Room 106 of the Avent Ferry Technology Center. Learn how to protect your privacy and control your digital footprint while using iOS-enabled devices. To register, visit Classmate.
  • Google Slides: Create, Collaborate and Publish Presentations will be offered on Thursday, April 7 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 110 of the Avent Ferry Technology Center. Learn how to create presentations using Google Slides. This session will focus on creating, editing, sharing and collaborating, themes, transitions, animations, and more! To register, visit Classmate.
  • Introduction to Google+ will be offered on Tuesday, April 12 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m in Room 110 of the Avent Ferry Technology Center. New to Google+? Or maybe you’ve just heard about this social media tool and are interested in learning more. This class will provide an overview of Google+ along with hands-on instruction to create your own Google+ page. By the end of this workshop, you will learn how to update your profile, configure privacy settings, create and manage circles, and post messages, links and photos. To register, visit Classmate.
  • Google Calendar: Advanced Productivity will be offered on Wednesday, April 13 from 9 a.m. to noon in Room 110 of the Avent Ferry Technology Center. This workshop will focus on Calendar (e.g., my calendar, other calendars, mini calendar), event details and calendar management. Specific features will include event attachments, maps and directions, labs, quick add, search options, mobile notifications, Hangouts (video conferencing), and more. To register, visit Classmate.
  • Gmail Top 10 will be offered online on Thursday, April 14 from noon to 1 p.m. Join us for this exciting Hangout on Air (HOA) event to learn Gmail tips, features and best practices. Visit the Google+ event page to find out more information, sign up to attend and add the event to your calendar.

For other available training sessions, visit Classmate Scheduled Workshops. If you are interested in custom software training, complete the Custom Training Form. Email all training questions to classreg@ncsu.edu.

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08: SAR training scheduled for April 20
Security Access Request (SAR) training for campus requestors and approvers of access to secured university data will be held Wednesday, April 20 from 9:30 a.m. to noon in Room 110 of the Avent Ferry Technology Center. To register, visit Classmate.

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09: Secure your mobile device
Mobile device users depend upon their smartphones, tablets and laptops to email, chat and access sensitive data, including medical, banking and financial information. Many, however, are unfamiliar with the potential and devastating effects of cyber threats and neglect to secure their devices. To keep your sensitive data safe, be aware of vulnerabilities that could make it easy for someone to access your device and follow these security tips:

  • Password protect your device with a strong passphrase or passcode. This may never happen to you, but people do lose their mobile devices. If it does happen and your device is password-protected, you can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that no one can access your apps, pictures and other sensitive data.
  • Only install apps from trusted sources. One of the most commonly known sources of vulnerabilities are mobile apps. Before you install an app, read the notifications from your device to learn how the app impacts your data privacy and security. Think long and hard before giving up your privacy and providing access to sensitive data for the thrills of the next new mobile game or funny screensaver.
  • Do not access or send sensitive data via public Wi-Fi or Wi-Fi hotspots, unless you are using a VPN. These networks are open to the public and visible by anyone within a nearby range.  
  • Disable your GPS and Wi-Fi on your mobile devices, when not in use.
    When these functions are enabled, your location is broadcast to a number of entities including your service provider and app developers. To minimize this broadcast, turn off these functions when they are not needed. Think before you make personal information such as your location, Internet data usage, app usage, and content data available.
  • Patch, patch and patch again. Make sure your operating system and apps are up-to-date with the latest security patches to correct vulnerabilities.
  • Enable 2-Step Verification, if available, on your accounts. 2-Step Verification, also known as 2 Factor Authentication, adds an additional layer of security when you sign into your account. Once you activate this security measure, you will be required to log in with your password and an additional security measure (e.g., a security code that is delivered to your mobile device via text, voice call or mobile app, a USB security key, printed backup codes). To view a list of applications that support 2-Step Verification, see Two Factor Auth (2FA).
  • Arm yourself with more security knowledge. Watch brief SANS Securing the Human videos to get additional cyber security tips.

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