Office of Information Technology

2004 OIT News Archive

January

16

Email Virus Alert

A new virus message is being received on campus. The message appears to be from the WVU Internet Virus Department and contains an attachment named Virus Alert. This is not a legitimate message. WVU does not have an internet virus department. Do not open the attachment and do not follow any instruction within the message. Contact the OIT Help Desk at 293-4444 if you have any questions. The body of the message is below:

Virus Alert
To:XXXXXX
From: wvu.edu's Internet Virus Department

We have detected a possible computer virus on your computer, You must open the details of the report within 24 hours our we will be forced to
shut down your internet service. Please Click Below Then Press "open" To View The Report If you do not open this report in 24 hours we will suspend your internet service If nothing appears on your virus report please disregard this message Click Here Now.

20

New Spam Email Procedure Implemented

In the continuing effort to reduce the amount of Spam at WVU, on Wednesday January 21st at 7:00, a new procedure will be put into place for scanning and marking Spam messages. All messages that are identified as spam will be held by the system. Each day at 12:00 pm, all users, who have messages held by the system, will receive a single message listing the message, subject and sender of each Spam message. If you want to receive any of the messages in the list simply click on the id of the message and send the message that is generated. This will request that the message be released and delivered to you. Please report any valid email that is marked as Spam by sending an email to OITHELP or calling the Help Desk @ 293-4444 ext. 1.

23

Student Evaluation of Instruction Web Site Open

All faculty are asked to complete the ordering process for their Spring 2004 Student Evaluation of Instruction forms now to avoid any delay at the end of the semester. Forms can be ordered from http://labs.wvu.edu/sei/order/evalnet.cfm at any time. Additional information about the SEI process is available at http://labs.wvu.edu/sei/ . Deadlines for the Spring 2004 semester: Mailing to Faculty 27-Apr-04. Ordering deadline 30-Apr-04. Return for processing 10-May-04. More information available on the web site. For more information see the web site or contact Brad Forbes at sei@mail.wvu.edu.

28

Virus Causing Email To Move Slowly

Due to the massive outbreak of the MyDoom-A virus, the spam and virus scanners on campus are overloaded with activity. Over 90,000+ messages an hour are coming into WVU, causing mail activity to be slow. If you are not using GroupWise, you may receive error messages when trying to send and receive mail. Within GroupWise you will see that mail is being transferred to other systems slower than normal. To speed up internal delivery of mail, OIT suggests the following: make sure you are using the GroupWise client; make sure you are sending mail directly to other GroupWise accounts by selecting the names from the system address book; clean out old wvu.edu email addresses from personal address books; in the long term, to reduce the amount of spam that you are receiving that you can delete wvu.edu email addresses. If you have any questions or would like to delete your wvu.edu email address, please contact the Help Desk.

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February

13

Karen Evans, Federal CIO, To Address Computing & Technology Symposium

The WVU Computing and Technology Symposium, sponsored by the WVU Office of Information Technology, will be held on March 30 and 31. This year OIT welcomes Karen Evans, CIO of the federal government, as the keynote speaker. Evans is a graduate of the WVU biology and MBA programs. Evans has accomplished an impressive 20-year career in government and will lead the nation into a new era of e-Government in the future. OIT encourages every college and university in West Virginia to participate in this event, which showcases outstanding examples of technology used throughout the state. If you have developed an interesting use for computing technology in your curriculum, or have perfected the use of technology and would like to share your experiences with your colleagues please use the information below to participate in this year's event. Those who would like to participate can register online at http://labs.wvu.edu/CTS/apply.cfm. This form must be completed by March 5 to be included in the printed schedule. For more information about the symposium, contact the presentation coordinator Lee Silverman or Paula Cole at techfair@mail.wvu.edu. The 2004 web site is being developed now and can be read at http://labs.wvu.edu/CTS.

20

GroupWise Maintenance - Sunday, Feb. 22

A short emergency maintenance period is needed for the GroupWise system on Sunday February 22 beginning at 5:00 pm. Updates need to be made to a recent upgrade that was applied to the operating system. Each post office will need to be shut down for a short period. The outage should be no more than 10 minutes for each post office. Call the Help Desk at 304 293-4444 ext. 1 for further information.

26

WVU Experiencing Intermittent Network Problems

Please be advised that the West Virginia University Network has experienced three attacks over the last six days. On Friday, Feb. 20, the network was attacked by a hacker attempting to access open and running computers (employees need to power down their personal computers on a nightly basis). On Wednesday, Feb. 25, WVU experienced a denial of service attack and this morning, Feb. 26, there was a virus attack. All of these have been significant and have caused intermittent interruptions and internet outages and have affected web and email services. Networking Services apologizes for the inconvenience, but seeks patience as they work through cleaning up the sporadic problems across campus. The Help Desk is aware of these problems.

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March

3

Virus Warning

The Office of Information Technology cautions employees that a new email virus warning is being received on campus. The subject of the message is "Important notify about your e-mail account". The message warns that your email account will be terminated due to virus activity and that you must renew your account. This is not a legitimate message. Please ignore and delete these messages. Call the Help Desk at 304 293-4444 ext. 1 for further information.

12

GroupWise Address Books Merged

The GroupWise system address book has been merged with the Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center address book. All HSC addresses are now listed in the system address book. Updates to the HSC entries will be made weekly during the regular maintenance period on Wednesday evenings. As a result of the merge, there are some duplicate names. Users should clean out their frequent contacts address book to ensure that they are sending messages to the appropriate people. Once users have cleaned out this address book, they will be prompted to choose the appropriate entry if there is a duplicate.

17

OIT Warns Students, Employees About Possible Email Scam

A new e-mail is being reported on campus that may be a scam. The message is regarding "Student Honor Society Membership Invitation." Indiana State University and Binghamton University have also received similar messages. A notice posted by Indiana State University can be found at: http://ithelp.indstate.edu/virus/content/20040305.html

Email Virus Hoax Circulating On Campus

A new e-mail virus hoax has been reported on campus. Do not follow any instructions that you receive in an e-mail regarding a virus warning. Contact the Office of Information Technology Help Desk at 293-4444 ext. 1 or oithelp@mail.wvu.edu if you have any questions or suspect that your computer is infected with a virus. OIT officials remind everyone that they should have up to date antivirus software installed on their computers and that they perform regular system wide scans. For more information on this recent hoax, visit
http://securityresponse.symantec.com

26

Faculty Reminded To Order SEI Forms Before April 27 Deadline

All faculty are asked to complete the ordering process for their Student Evaluation of Instruction forms now to avoid any delay at the end of the semester. The mailing deadline for forms is April 27. The SEI project staff have received requests for only 54,000 of the expected 80,000 forms this semester. Forms can be ordered from http://labs.wvu.edu/sei/order/evalnet.cfm at any time. Additional information about the SEI process is available at http://labs.wvu.edu/sei/ or you can contact Brad Forbes, assistant director academic information services, via e-mail at brad.forbes@mail.wvu.edu.

Computing and Technology Symposium Next Week

The 13th annual WVU Computing and Technology Symposium will be 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday and 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Wednesday in the Mountainlair. WVU alumna Karen Evans, administrator of the Office of Electronic Government and Information Technology in the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, will give the keynote speech at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in the Gluck Theater. For more information, call 293-2900 or go to http://labs.wvu.edu/cts/ .

29

OIT Develops Web Page With Security Tips

The Office of Information Technology has developed a Web page with computer security tips at http://oit.wvu.edu/oit/securitytips.html . OIT will be sending out regular security tips, and they will be added to this Web page. The first topic is password management; click here to read OIT’s suggestions http://intranet.wvu.edu/

News2004/password_management.htm .

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April

12

Electronic Thesis, Dissertation Deadline May 7

The electronic thesis and dissertation submission deadline for spring 2004 graduation is Friday, May 7, at 4 p.m. This includes final submission of approved ETD format as well as receipt of the required fee(s) and forms by the University Libraries. For ETD Submission Checklists on the Web, see the following URL: http://www.libraries.wvu.edu/theses/submit-checklist.htm

WVU Unveils Information Security Web Site

The WVU Information Security Program was introduced at the WVU Computing & Technology Symposium last week. That program recognizes that information resources are vital assets requiring protection commensurate with their value. WVU information assets must be actively managed to ensure the continued confidentiality, integrity and availability of these resources. As part of this program, the Information Security Web site at http://intranet.wvu.edu/iso has been developed to hopefully provide a central place where students, faculty and staff can find information on security at WVU. Feedback about this site to Information_Security@mail.wvu.edu is encouraged.

13

Campus Network Experiencing Virus Attack

Please be advised that the WVU campus is currently under attack by a new variant of a virus that is slipping past the Virus Protection Software. Performance on the network has slowed considerably and internet traffic is also affected and some units have been temporarily suspended from service. LAN managers will be notified as soon as action is needed at the unit level. In the meantime, this virus is looking for passwords, so please take this opportunity to change your passwords on systems and clients that you run. The Help Desk is aware of the problem, so no action is needed from users.

Verizon Outages Announced

Verizon will be performing a software upgrade in Charleston on Thursday (April 15) and Tuesday (April 19). The following facilities will not have service during the specified times:11 p.m. April 15 to 6 a.m. April 16
- WVU Tech - Montgomery
- WVU Tech - Charleston
- WVU Tech - Oak Hill
- WVU Parkersburg
- WVU CHSC
- ATM video feeds to the above sites and/or locations that connect through Verizon's Charleston Hub11 p.m. April 19 to 6 a.m. April 20
The connection to WVU main campus will be down for the following sites:
- WVU Tech - Montgomery
- WVU Tech - Charleston
- WVU Tech - Oak Hill
- WVU Parkersburg
- WVU CHSCAll service will be down for the following sites:
- RDTP
- WVUCED
- WVU Potomac State Campus
- Ruby Data Center atm feeds to Charleston and Rocket Center
- Nursery School (if dsl service is installed by the date)
- Summit Hall (if dsl service is installed by this date)
- Safety & Health Extension
- Fire Training Center
- CESD
- Institute of History and Technology
- Motor Pool
- All atm video feeds to/from WVU Morgantown campus

26

OIT Warns of New Email Virus

A new virus is being spread through email. The fake news item appears as though it is sent from CNN or the BBC regarding the capture of Osama Bin Laden. If the url within the message is clicked, it will attempt to download a Trojan virus that compromise your computer. More information can be found at http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/3344641 . OIT would like to remind everyone that it is very important to have up to date antivirus software on your computers and to be cautious when clicking on urls and opening attachments received in email messages that you have not solicited.

28

WVU Experiencing Internet Outage

WVU is currently experiencing a problem with the internet connection. Our provider, WVNET, has been contacted and is investigating the problem. Internal communication is functioning normally.

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May

5

Sasser Virus Warning

The recently released Sasser virus now has several variants that are being distributed. This virus spreads by exploiting vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows. More information on this virus and variants can be found at http://www.eweek.com/category2/0,1738,1476468,00.asp. Please make sure that critical updates to the operating system and virus definitions are kept up to date on all computers. If you have any questions, contact the OIT Help Desk at 293-4444 ext. 1.

Place Telecommunications Orders Before June 14

Telecommunications typically receives large volumes of voice service and equipment requests during the months of July and August as the University prepares for the Fall semester. With the large number of requests, it can be difficult to schedule vendors so that all services are implemented in the time frame designated by the departments. So that Telecommunications can better serve users and more readily guarantee needs are taken care of prior to the beginning of the Fall semester, all requests for additions, deletions and changes to voice services must be received no later than Monday, June 14. These services include installation of lines, phones, circuits, voice/data outlets, and activation of voice mail. Any requests received after this date can not be guaranteed to be in place by the first day of classes. Students who live off campus should schedule any new telephone services for the fall prior to their arrival in August. Any questions, please email Rebecca.Collins@mail.wvu.edu .

OIT Workshop Schedule Announced May-August

A new series of information technology workshops has been scheduled for the summer; the schedule and registration details are online at http://oit.wvu.edu/support/training/schedule.html . The hands-on sessions are free to all WVU faculty, staff and students, but pre-registration is required. For more information or to register, call 293-4444 ext. 1 or send email to workshop@mail.wvu.edu

12

Data Center Outage Scheduled for May 23

The WVU data center will be undergoing fire suppression testing work Sunday, May 23, from 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. All systems will be out of service during this time. The systems that will be down include, but is not limited to: MIX, http://www.wvu.edu, WVU e-mail scanning, GroupWise, WebCT, STAR, MAP, Magic, ROADS, eTD, eNOD, Paciolan, MountainLynx / Voyager and Citrix. If you have any questions, please contact the OIT Help Desk at 293-4444 ext 1.

13

Data Center Announces Interruption in Services

The WVU Data Center will be undergoing Fire Suppression testing Sunday, May 23, from 7 a.m.-5 p.m. All systems will be out of service during this time. The systems that will be down include, but is not limited to: MIX, http://www.wvu.edu, WVU email scanning, GroupWise, WebCT, STAR, MAP, Magic, ROADS, eTD, eNOD, Paciolan, MountainLynx /Voyager and Citrix. If you have any questions, please contact the OIT Help Desk at 293-4444 ext 1.

21

Power Outage Causes Disruptions

There have been many disruptions in campus networking and phone service operations due to this morning's power outage and storm. Be assured that technicians are working on the problems. However, phone service at the WVU Alumni Association will be out until further notice. Call 276-9882 or 288-2472 if you need immediate assistance.

Data Center Announces Interruption in Services

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June

8

White Hall Computing Center Upgraded

The professionals in Academic Information Services have been busy over the last week completing a comprehensive upgrade of the White Hall Computing Center. The premier central computer lab and high tech classrooms are now equipped with new state-of-the-art Dell workstations including 19-inch flat panel displays. Each machine is loaded with new software including Macromedia Studio MX, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe PageMaker, Adobe PhotoShop, AutoCad, Freehand, MatLab, Microsoft Office XP Pro, Microsoft Visio, Microsoft Visual Studio, and QuarkXpress. This upgrade, and the new software, was made possible by the WVU Student Technology Fund paid for by WVU students. White Hall will reopen on Monday operating on their summer session schedule which can be seen online at http://labs.wvu.edu/. For more information contact Brad Forbes, Assistant Director at brad.forbes@mail.wvu.edu.

23

Morrison to Continue As Associate Provost for Information Technology

Provost Gerald Lang announced today that Sid Morrison’s appointment as interim Associate Provost for Information Technology has been made permanent. "He has done an exceptional job managing the information technology needs of the institution. He has worked to improve service delivery and customer satisfaction. He has provided excellent leadership for future investments in new technology to serve the needs of the campus," Lang commented. "I am pleased that Sid will continue to serve West Virginia University."

Schedule Posted for Partners in Technology Conference

Registration is under way for the Partners in Technology conference at the Charleston Civic Center Aug. 4-6. Numerous WVU faculty and staff will be presenting. A full schedule of presenters can be found at http://www.wvnet.edu/conference/concurrent_sessions/sessions.php

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July

9

New WVU ID Numbers In BANNER/STAR Take Effect Monday

Beginning Monday, July 12, WVU students, faculty and advisers will be assigned a new WVU ID number in the BANNER/STAR Student Information System. This nine-digit number will replace the old ID (Social Security number), providing a more secure data environment and meeting new federal regulations. During the transition period, current faculty and students will still be able to access the STAR Web using their old ID numbers (through Aug. 1, 2005). However, those added to the STAR system after July 11, 2004, will not be able to use their SSNs to access STAR directly. For complete details, go to http://intranet.wvu.edu/News2004/ID_numbers.htm .

16

OIT Announces New Microsoft Software Agreement

The WVU Office of Information Technology has negotiated an annual discounted software site license agreement with Microsoft Corporation that will provide a number of popular Microsoft products to WVU departments at a minimal charge. The agreement, negotiated by OIT’s Software License Information Center, establishes a campus-wide standard for Microsoft groupware products and significantly lowers the cost of software acquisition to WVU. For more details, go to http://intranet.wvu.edu/News2004/microsoft_agreement.htm . Although this license agreement prohibits installing the software on personally-owned computers, WVU faculty and staff may purchase a Microsoft Office Academic Professional media pack for home use for only $30 from the OIT Technology Support Center, located on the ground floor of the Mountainlair.

26

OIT Warns of Suspicious Email

WVU's Office of Information Technology has issued an alert about a suspicious e-mail message circulating around campus. The message says:“Your email account was used to send a huge amount of spam messages during this week. Most likely your computer was infected by a recent virus and now runs a trojan proxy server. Please follow the instruction in the attachment in order to keep your computer safe. Have a nice day, The mail.wvu.edu team.” Please note that this message is NOT from the Office of Information Technology, and there is no such unit as “The mail.wvu.edu team.” Delete the message and do NOT open the attachment. For more information, contact the WVU OIT Helpdesk at 293-4444 ext. 1

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August

6

WVU, Microsoft & Others Going After Computer Criminals

Bill Gates has joined forces with WVU and other area institutions to fight computer crime and prepare tomorrow’s cyber sleuths. Gates’ software company, Microsoft, has donated $46,000 in software and provided a full-time analyst to the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance. WVU, Carnegie Mellon University, the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center formed the alliance two years ago. On the Net: http://www.nis.wvu.edu/2004_Releases/cybercrime.htm .

11

WVU OIT Advises Not to Install Windows XP Update

After a number of delays, Microsoft Corporation has released the biggest update for its Windows XP operating system, Windows XP Service Pack 2. While this update provides a number of important security enhancements for Windows-based computers, it has not been established if there are any conflicts with WVU campus systems. WVU Network administrators are evaluating the Microsoft automatic update process in an effort to avoid possible problems. The WVU Office of Information Technology advises that you do not install this service pack until compatibility testing with campus systems is completed. OIT will post an update on E-NEWS, the Intranet and MIX when the installation of XP Service Pack 2 is approved for use with WVU systems. For more information, contact the WVU OIT Helpdesk at 293-4444 ext. 1.

19

Deans' Window for Annual SEI Departmental Questions Open Aug. 23-29

WVU deans' window of opportunity to set the annual departmental questions for the Student Evaluation of Instruction (SEI) process will be open from Aug. 23 through Aug. 29. During this time deans will be able to review and select questions that will appear on SEI forms for all faculty members from their college. The questions selected will appear on SEI forms printed for the Fall 2004, Spring 2005 and Summer 2005 semesters. If you have any questions about the process, contact Brad Forbes, assistant director, Academic Information Services, at brad.forbes@mail.wvu.edu

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Seminar Planned

Faculty, staff and graduate students are invited to attend a campus-wide Electronic Thesis and Dissertation seminar on Monday, Oct. 4, from 3:30-5 p.m. in Room 101A,

NRCCE Building . For more information about this seminar, go to http://www.wvu.edu/~thesis/News/ETD_Grad_Seminar.htm

20

Windows XP Serice Pack 2 Update

Microsoft Corporation announced this week the delay of the distribution of Windows XP Service Pack 2 via its Automatic Update service. The delay allows enterprise customers more time to evaluate compatibility issues. Microsoft has identified about 50 programs that encounter problems with Windows XP SP 2. WVU Network Services continues to test Windows XP SP 2 with WVU campus systems and will post an update on Mountaineer ENEWS and MIX when the installation of XP Service Pack 2 is approved for use with WVU systems. If you have questions about Windows XP SP 2, contact the OIT Help Desk at 293-4444 ext. 1.

24

OIT Alerts U Community About Email Scam, Possible Virus

The Office of Information Technology cautions the University community that an Internet scam and possible computer virus is being spread through email. A number of people have reported receiving a fake emails, which appear to originate from the “eBay Billing Department” or “PayPal,” requesting you update your account information. Although the eBay and PayPal emails contain what appears to be valid links, both are a fraudulent attempt to gather your sensitive financial information. In at least one instance, clicking on the eBay link downloaded a computer virus to a University-owned machine. OIT strongly recommends that you should never follow an email link or open an attachment unless you absolutely trust the sender. eBay has posted some helpful tips on how to protect you from fraudulent e-mails at: http://pages.ebay.com/help/confidence/spoof-email.html Contact the OIT Help Desk at 293-4444 EXT. if you have any questions.

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September

2

OIT Continues Testing Windows XP Service Pack 2

For the last several weeks the WVU Office of Information Technology has been testing Microsoft Corporation’s new Windows XP update, Service Pack 2 (SP 2). The test is to ensure that once SP 2 is released for campus wide distribution, it is compatible with WVU campus systems. So far, the tests have revealed no major problems but have identified some conflicts that are easy to correct. Once testing is complete and SP 2 is approved for use with WVU systems, OIT will post links to information on resolving system conflicts to Enews, the Intranet and MIX. As always, problems should be directed to the OIT Helpdesk at 293-4444 ext. 1 or e-mail oithelp@mail.wvu.edu .

14

Magazine Touts WVU's ETD Efforts

WVU's efforts in the electronic theses and dissertations frontier received attention in the current issue of D-Lib Magazine. An article reporting on the seventh International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations spotlighted WVU alum Hilary Attfield, recipient of the Innovative ETD Award. WVU, a participating partner of the ETD2004 Symposium, has been a pioneer in the area of electronic thesis and dissertation programs, having been the second institution in the world to implement a required electronic submission policy in 1998"

20

New MIX Email Procedures Begin Oct. 7

1. All mail in the deleted folder will be deleted when it is one week
old. (This is the same procedure as used in GroupWise.)
2. All mail that is in your mailbox (INBOX) will be automatically be
deleted when it is over one year old.

Mail that is in other folders that you have created will not be bothered, but this mail does count toward the 50 megabytes of storage that each faculty user
has. If you have mail that is over one year old that you need to save, you can "pop" it to a mail client (Outlook Express, Eudora, Pegasus, etc.) off
the server. Another option is to copy and save it as a document. For directions, write to mix@mail.wvu.edu . If you have attachments that
are of value that you need to keep that are over one year old in MIX, we advise you to save these documents to your hard drive,cd or floppy
disk. You may want to scan any documents with your antivirus software just to be sure that it is virus free before you save to your hard
drive.

Faculty do have the option to forward their MIX e-mail to their GroupWise account if they wish to do so. Go to options in e-mail for
this feature. Faculty accounts are limited to a 50 mb size in MIX while students are limited to a 20 mb mailbox.

If you have questions, you may write to mix@mail.wvu.edu or call the HelpDesk at 304-293-4444 ext.1.

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October

8

Planned Power Outage October 10

American Electric Power Company will perform an electrical upgrade in the State Capitol Complex area on Sunday, Oct. 10, from 8 a.m.-8 p.m. that will affect some WVU-related activities. Internet traffic to and from the southern half of the state may be interrupted without notice at any time during this period. The Banner system and Extended Learning courses will also be unavailable that day.

11

OIT Approves Windows XP Service Pack 2 Release For Campus

The WVU Office of Information Technology (OIT) has completed WVU systems compatibility testing of Microsoft Corporation’s new Windows XP update, Service Pack 2 (SP 2). OIT has tested this major update to the Windows XP operating system with all major WVU systems and has approved Windows XP SP2 for use by faculty, staff, and students.

WVU Administrative Novell Network users will receive an automatic, “controlled” release of SP2, along with a change to the default configurations in Internet Explorer. Due to the complexity of this update, the roll out will be distributed gradually to computers connected to the Administrative Network. Individual departments will be notified as the administrative network installation proceeds. All other faculty and staff network users should contact their departmental computer support staff for guidelines on changing your Internet Explorer settings and Windows XP SP2 installation.

OIT strongly recommends that any critical data stored on personal hard drives be backed up prior to the SP2 upgrade. More detailed information regarding the Windows XP SP2 update and configuration information is available at: http://oit.wvu.edu/sp2.html . For more information, contact the WVU OIT Helpdesk at 293-4444 ext. 1 or email oithelp@mail.wvu.edu .

21

Vista Outage Planned

The Vista server will be down Friday, Oct. 29, at midnight to Monday, Nov. 1, at 7 a.m. for routine maintenance. OIT staff indicates the system may be available before 7 a.m. Vista is a course management system for some online classes. This DOES NOT affect the current WebCT system.

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November

1

Wireless Networking Available in Mountainlair

The Mountainlair is the latest addition to the University wireless network, with 11 high-power access points providing coverage throughout the building. To mark the occasion, representatives from Student Government will "Cut the Wire" at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3, in the Mountainlair Commons area. WVU Office of Information Technology staff will also be available in the Tygart Room on Wednesday, Nov. 3, from noon-4 p.m. as well as Nov. ember 4, 8, 9, and 10 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. to answer wireless questions. WVU offers fast, secure WiFi network access at various locations around the campus, free of charge for faculty, staff and students. Wireless users can access email, instant messengers, the Internet and other network resources using WiFi-enabled notebook computers or PDAs from any hotspot location, without needing to connect to a network jack or phone line. University students and personnel must activate their WVU Active Directory account in order to use the wireless network and must have a wireless device compatible with 802.1x PEAP authentication. Please visit http://wireless.wvu.edu for more information and for a list of hotspot locations. For more information, contact the WVU OIT Helpdesk at 293-4444 ext. 1 or email oithelp@mail.wvu.edu .

10

Two New Email Threats Circulating on Campus

The Office of Information Technology is aware of two new email threats, a computer virus and a possible scam circulating on campus. The virus email, which appears to be from a legitimate University source, contains the text: “Hello, Your email was received. YOUR REPLY IS URGENT! Please view the attached text file for instructions. Regards, User” When the recipient opens the file, the attached virus sends a mass-mailing worm to email addresses gathered from the infected computer, prevents access to several Web sites and disables certain security and anti-virus applications. The virus is not being distributed by a legitimate WVU source. Do not open the attachment or follow any instructions in the message. The other threat is a possible scam. A message with the subject “Confirmation” contains the text: “Congratulations! PayPal has successfully charged $175 to your credit card. Your order tracking number is A866DEC0, and your item will be shipped within three business days. To see details please click this link. DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE VIA EMAIL. This email is being sent by an automated message system and the reply will not be received. Thank you for using PayPal.” Both of these types of attacks create the impression that the email is coming from a legitimate source seeking information. The real purpose is either to launch a computer virus or gain confidential financial information.

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December

10

WVU Upgrading WebCT Instructional Program

WVU is upgrading WebCT to a new course management program called Vista. This instructional tool is a next-generation enterprise system that resides on more than $1 million of hardware with backup and recovery capabilities. Faculty will be contacted as soon as their course is available in Vista. Faculty who have a spring course and have not been contacted by Monday should send an e-mail message to webct@mail.wvu.edu with the course request number, course title and section. The Instructional Technology Resource Center staff will hold open lab sessions Dec. 13-17 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. at Colson Hall to assist with Vista course preparation for the spring term. E-mail webct@mail.wvu.edu to make an appointment. Each college has a point of contact or faculty mentor to assist in the transition. Please visit http://vistainfo.wvu.edu/resources/poc.html to identify your contact person. More on the net: http://vistainfo.wvu.edu .

New Email Scam Attempts to Collect Personal Information

A fraudulent e-mail, claiming to originate from SunTrust Bank, has appeared on campus. The e-mail directs the recipient to an altered web site in an attempt to collect private financial information for identity theft. The scam differs from ordinary schemes where victims are directed to a phony Web site. This scam directs users to what appears to be a legitimate SunTrust Web page where a phony confirmation screen appears in the foreground.

If you receive this e-mail and you are not a SunTrust customer, delete it. If you are a SunTrust customer, you can report the scam to SunTrust by sending an e-mail to abuse@suntrust.com , submitting an online fraud report to http://www.suntrust.com/common/security/fraudform.asp or calling 1-800-227-3782. For more information, contact the WVU OIT Helpdesk at 293-4444 ext. 1 .

16

Vista Training Scheduled

An "Introduction to WebCT Vista" training session will provide faculty with a hands-on opportunity to learn the latest version of WebCT. Become familiar with the

Vista environment, including navigation and customization. Learn how to post a syllabus, how to use the gradebook, how to add topics to discussion boards and how to upload files. Sessions will be: Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2-4 p.m. (White Hall Computing Center Training Lab 2), Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2-4 p.m. ( Evansdale Library Computing Center Training Lab G-14) To register go to the training schedule at http://oit.wvu.edu/support/training/schedule.html

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Updated October 23, 2007