IT Press

IT Security reminder: Don't click on unfamiliar web links

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:13:20 -0600

Several customers on campus have reported receiving potentially harmful web links via university email disguised as e-greeting cards. IT Security would like to remind you that it's not a good idea to click on these electronic greetings, as many of them contain viruses and malware intended to harm your computer. The general rule of thumb is that you should NEVER click on a web link unless you're sure where it will take you.

If you have any questions about this issue, or think you may have loaded malware on your computer, please contact the IT Help Desk at 573-341-HELP (4357).

New "antivirus" computer security threat detected on campus

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 09:06:37 -0600

Please take a moment to read through this information regarding a computer security threat that has popped up on a handful of campus computers. Following a few commonsense guidelines can help protect your computer and potentially save you the hassle of losing saved data or having your computer run substantially slower.

What to look for to avoid the threat:

The security threat has appeared under several different names, including Antispyware 2009, Antivirus 2009 or any combination of "antispyware" or "antivirus" along with a four-digit year. It looks like a legitimate warning. If your computer prompts you to install or update similar-sounding software, don't accept it.
Note: Almost all of the university-owned computers run a legitimate antivirus software package called McAfee Antivirus that occasionally runs updates.
Microsoft is very meticulous about proper grammar and spelling. Any popup windows or prompts with typos or strange syntax should give you a clue that something is wrong.
Finally, don't click on or accept anything that looks suspicious or if you're not sure what it is. Even if the item in question is legitimate, it's better to ask for verification before proceeding if you have any doubts.

Signs the malicious file may already be on your computer:

Your Internet redirects you to sites you did not enter in your browser's address bar.
You are unable to connect to the network.
You notice files or saved data is missing.

What to do if you notice something suspicious:

Call the IT Help Desk immediately at 573-341-HELP (4357).
Don't accept any antivirus updates or click 'OK' on any popup windows until you check with the Help Desk.
If you think there is something malicious on your computer, call the Help Desk to set up a time for IT to come and assist you.

Blackboard Maintenance

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 08:07:28 -0600

Blackboard will be unavailable for approximately four hours between 5:30pm and 10:00pm on Friday, December 26, during the regularly scheduled maintenance window. System administrators will be applying patches and updates to the servers. These updates will not change any of the functionality within Blackboard.

For more information, please contact the Help Desk at (573) 341-HELP.

Math Software Updates to Computer Labs & Classrooms over Winter Break

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 09:24:06 -0600

Over the Winter Break, IT will be upgrading computer labs and classrooms on campus with Mathcad 14, MATLAB 2008b (classroom), and Maple 12, which are newer versions of mathematical simulation software than is currently installed. This change is being made based on faculty requests to upgrade the outdated versions.

The software updates will take place as part of the IT re-imaging process of computer labs and classrooms, in conjunction with a number of other software updates that will take place at the same time.

Instructors who will be using any of these software packages for their classes can obtain a copy of the updated version of the software for their campus-owned desktops or laptops by contacting the Help Desk at 341-HELP or by submitting an online Help Request at https://help.mst.edu.

IMPORTANT NOTE: It is not possible (or desirable) to update all of the computer labs simultaneously with the new software. For the next few weeks, older versions of the software will be available on campus as well as the newer versions of the software. In some rare instances, both versions of software may even be available in the same computer lab, though not on the same machine (e.g. the Library CLC, which simply can't be closed entirely for maintenance).

A file created on a machine with the new version may have difficulty being opened on a machine that is still running the older version of software. Newer versions of software should not have any difficulty opening files created in the older versions.

Thursday night maintenance window

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 15:03:10 -0600

The following service will be affected during tonight's weekly IT maintenance window:

Windows and Linux Servers - the monthly patch for Windows and Linux servers will be installed tonight between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. Windows and Linux servers will be unavailable for up to 30 minutes during this time.

If you have any questions about this issue, please contact the IT Help Desk at 341-HELP (4357).

Mac and Linux Patching

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 14:57:47 -0600

On Tuesday, December 16, a patch will be released for all Mac and Linux machines on campus. This may require a reboot to complete.

Please direct any questions about this issue to the IT Help Desk at 573-341-HELP (4357).

Wireless Outage

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 14:33:40 -0600

On Wednesday morning, between 6:00am and 8:00am, there will be a brief wireless outage at Gale-Bullman. This is expected to last no more than 30 minutes.

Temporary Wireless Outage

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:00:00 -0600

Due to maintenance, wireless services on campus will be disrupted for approximately 30 minutes sometime between 6:00 and 8:00am on Wednesday, December 3. Any questions regarding this issue may be addressed to the Help Desk by calling 573-341-HELP (4357).

Thursday night maintenance window

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:44:01 -0600

The following service will be affected during this week's Thursday night IT maintenance window starting at 10 p.m. and lasting until 2 a.m.:

Network File Storage -- All Network File Storage services, including personal network file storage (S: drive), department volumes (Y: drive), non-Documentum web pages, research volumes and roaming profiles will be unavailable for approximately 30 minutes during the maintenance window.

Windows/Linux patching -- Windows and Linux servers will be down for approximately 30 minutes for monthly updating.

Please note: The IT maintenance window occurs every Thursday night from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. You should expect one or more IT services to be unavailable during this weekly time slot.

If you have any questions about this issue, please contact the IT Help Desk at 341-HELP (4357).

Brief network outage felt campus-wide

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 18:52:34 -0600

Missouri S&T experienced a brief campus-wide network outage at 4:20 p.m. today. The outage was caused by a core router failure in the Computer Science data center.

IT will continue to investigate the root cause of the failure and will provide more information as it becomes available.

Impacts from today's Next Generation Network upgrade - S: drives, user web and department web directories

Sat, 08 Nov 2008 18:46:01 -0600

As a result of today's Next Generation Network upgrade, access to a small portion of user home directories (aka "S: drives") is unavailable. In addition, access to user and department web directories/volumes will be unavailable for approximately 18 hours.

Please note that user data was NOT affected and web sites being served from both user and department web directories/volumes are still available from the Internet. Only a user's ability to EDIT the aforementioned sites has been affected.

This interruption in access is necessary to restore proper directory permissions. For most users this service interruption will require no action at all. However, if you have set any custom permissions for accessing your S: drive, user web or department web directories, those permissions will need to be reset once service has been restored.

If you require assistance with resetting your permissions, please contact the IT Help Desk at 341-HELP (4357).

Blackboard courses older than two years to expire

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:48:41 -0600

On Dec. 2, IT will perform a cleanup of all Blackboard courses older than two years as part of Missouri S&T's two year Blackboard course retention policy. After Dec. 2, any course content, enrollment, and entire courses themselves which are older than two years, will be purged from Blackboard and will not be recoverable.

If you wish to retain content in any of these courses, it is important that you archive, export, or copy off any content you wish to retain for these courses prior to the remove date.If you require assistance with archiving or copying off any of the course information, please contact the Educational Technology team at 341-4131 or edtech@mst.edu.

You should receive several email reminders during November, listing your specific courses that are set to expire. If you are one of multiple instructors for any of these courses, please coordinate efforts with other instructors in the course to ensure any data which needs to be retained is archived or copied by Dec. 2.

If you have any questions about this issue, please contact the IT Help Desk at 573-341-HELP (4357).

Next Generation Network upgrade, IT services down Sat. morning

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 09:41:43 -0600

Missouri S&T has been working with MOREnet to increase our campus bandwidth capacity and offer improved Internet performance by upgrading to an NGN (Next Generation Network).

Related to this upgrade, most IT services will be unavailable on Saturday, Nov. 8 from 8 a.m. to noon. Customers should expect the following regarding campus computing services during this time:

Email and voicemail will be unavailable (new messages will queue up for delivery, but customers will be unable to access existing messages during the outage)
Network File Storage will be unavailable, including personal and department folders and web volumes
Customers will not be able to login to CLC computers
IT hosted servers will be unavailable
IT applications hosted on itweb.mst.edu may not function correctly
New systems or computers attempting to get access to the network will not be able to connect

For more information about this issue, please contact the IT Help Desk at 573-341-HELP or read the NGN announcement from MOREnet.

UPDATE: Web volumes and some Network File Storage down this morning

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:24:20 -0600

Service has been restored for all web volumes and network file storage.

Due to an ongoing problem, which we are working with Microsoft to resolve, user web volumes and department web volumes that AREN'T in Documentum are currently unavailable.

Additionally, some customers' network storage drives are unavailable. 90% of user home directories are available, and we are working to restore service to the remaining 10%. No customer data has been impacted.

Department drives, research volumes, roaming profiles, and most customers' network storage space are available. We are working to restore service, and will pass along information as we find out more.

If you have any questions about this issue, please contact the IT Help Desk at 573-341-HELP (4357).

Important Microsoft security update

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 10:50:15 -0600

Microsoft released a new security patch on Oct. 23 to patch a vulnerability that could lead to remote access of Windows-based computers. The Missouri S&T IT security team is urging all faculty, students and staff to make sure your automatic updates are turned on and that you reboot your computer as soon as the updates are installed.

This update will be pushed automatically to all IT-managed computers, but if you have a personal machine, you should make sure the update is installed.

If you have any questions about this issue or how to turn on auto update on your computer, please contact the IT Help Desk at 573-341-HELP (4376).