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10/26/09, ITS Sustainability Web Pages

What is ITS doing toward making Macalester a greener campus? Quite a bit, and we've been doing much of it for years. Learn more on our Sustainability Web pages, where we collect information about what we have done and continue to do in support of the College's sustainability goals. We present useful information for you, on how to reduce your paper and energy usage (did you know that you can read a document online and take notes electronically as well?), plus links to statistics on overall College resource consumption. Fire up your browser and go to www.macalester.edu/its/sustainability/index.html.

10/23/09, Illegal Download Warning

Students, be aware that owners of copyrighted materials such as movies, music and software are increasingly aggressive about finding and prosecuting people who illegally download such materials. Macalester ITS respects your privacy, and we do not monitor the content of your electronic data. However, when we are presented with official 'cease and desist' notices or legal subpoenas, we must and will cooperate. If we receive such a notice and we find your account contains material in violation of copyright laws, you will (at minimum) lose network access privileges until the offending material is removed, and the Dean of Students authorizes restoring your access. Repeated violations may be handled under the college's student judicial processes.

We realize that with the beginning of the Fall semester, you may not have taken the time to familiarize yourself with your responsibilities regarding copyright and potential violations. Please do so now. ITS is receiving an increasing number of official communications from copyright holders alleging violations. Beginning Monday, November 2, ITS will raise our level of vigilance about investigating these claims and taking appropriate action.

You should know who owns the files you are sharing, and understand the risks you run if you violate copyright. We have posted brief information about copyright laws, relevant college and ITS policies, and resources for legally downloading music, movies and software, on these pages:

08/19/09, Welcome and Warning

Don't be fooled by "phishing" scam messages. These messages are faked to look like official communications from banks, governmental offices, vendors, even from Macalester ITS staff. They try to get you to divulge personal information "in order to keep your account open" or "to maintain your password." If you reply, your information can be used to perpetrate other frauds in your name, or even get access to your bank accounts, medical records, etc. You should never reply to a phishing scam, but simply delete the message.

Please know that ITS staff will communicate with you either using our own accounts or with Macalester distribution lists, such as notification-L. All of us are listed in the online Directory, all of us use Macalester.edu accounts, and all of us include accurate contact information in messages we send. If you are suspicious of a message, please call our Help Desk at x.6525. Don't get caught by a phishing scam!

How can you recognize a phishing scam? Here are some clues to watch out for.

No legitimate institution will ask you to divulge personal or account information via e-mail. ITS staff will never do so. This clue alone is a dead giveaway.
Phishing scams often ask for information that a legitimate sender should already have. (Why would a bank ask you for your account number? Why would IT staff ask for your e-mail username?)
The message uses generic phrases like "Dear Account Holder" or "Dear Property Owner" rather than addressing you personally by name. (If you have an account with a firm, won't they use your name in correspondence?)
The message originates from someone you do not know, with a 'From:' address that seems odd. Too, the signature will be vague, almost never the same as the 'From:' address, but instead a generic phrase like "Account Team" or "Financial Services" or "email Team."
Bad grammar, misspellings, clumsy punctuation, odd capitalization, and broken or badly-written English are nearly ubiquitous in phishing scams.

Want to learn more about phishing scams and how to identify them? Check out EDUCAUSE's pages on phishing, beginning here: http://www.educause.edu/Resources/Browse/Phishing/30515

07/15/09, Information for Incoming Students

Are you a new Macalester student, enrolling for Fall 2009? We've prepared an ITS Orientation page to explain our services and answer your questions about using computers at Macalester. Please click here.

02/18/09, Protect Your Facebook Privacy!

Protect your privacy in Facebook! Information Services encourages everyone to be aware of and manage your privacy settings in Facebook so that only 'friends' can see your information. You might be surprised what is publicly accessible unless you change your settings. Here is a great, brief screencast that walks you through how you can control access to your profile. Here is another good resource that outlines the ten privacy settings every Facebook user should know.

11/21/08, Use Your Free Network Storage Space!

Did you know that everyone at Macalester has access to free, secure private storage space on our network? Did you know that groups and departments have secure shared space there, too? Did you know that files saved on our network are backed up to tape every night?

As we approach the end of the semester, backing up critical files is a smart way to protect your hard work. Every individual gets 500 MB - half a gig - of storage space on the H: drives of our networked file servers, Academic and Admin. If you need more space for your research project or senior presentation, just ask - individual quotas can be expanded as needed. Departmental and group shared folders on the G: drives have no quotas at all. And yes, Macintoshes can access these spaces just as easily as Windows PCs can.

If you have questions about how to access your individual or shared network storage space, please call the ITS Help Desk at x.6525 or send e-mail to helpdesk@macalester.edu. Faculty, check with your AIA for more information.

Hard experience says there are two kinds of people using computers - those who have lost data, and those who will. Back up your data on our network and you'll be ready for the Bad Thing.

10/01/08, How Can I Tell It's A Scam?

Simple. Macalester's Information Technology Services staff will never - EVER - send you an e-mail message asking for your username and/or password. If you receive such a message, it is almost certainly a phishing scam. Do not reply to the message, just delete it. If you're still not sure, contact the ITS Help Desk via e-mail or at x.6525.

08/27/08, A Welcome and a Warning

Welcome from all of us in ITS, whether you are new to Macalester or returning for the new academic year! We use 'notification-l' e-mail distribution lists (one each, for faculty, staff and students) to give you advance notice of system downtimes and planned maintenance. We also use notification-l to inform you of unplanned system events, when such events permit. We will work to balance our need to communicate about significant technical events versus your desire for messages that are infrequent, clear and relevant.

Once again, welcome (or welcome back). Now the warning.

In all the excitement of beginning a new academic year, be aware that various scam artists and criminals will try to take advantage of you with "phishing" e-mail messages. These messages look like official communications from banks, governmental offices, vendors, even IT offices, but are not. They try to get you to divulge personal information "in order to keep your account open" or "to maintain your password." If you reply, your information can be used to perpetrate other frauds in your name, or even get access to your bank accounts, medical records, etc. You should never reply to a phishing scam, but simply delete the message.

How can you recognize a phishing scam? Here are some clues to watch out for.

*No legitimate institution will ask you to divulge personal or account information via e-mail. This clue alone is a dead giveaway.

*Along the same lines, phishing scams often ask for information that a legitimate sender should already have. (Why would a bank ask you for your account number? Why would IT staff ask for your e-mail username?)

*The message does not address you personally, but instead uses generic phrases like "Dear Account Holder" or "Dear Property Owner." (If you have an account with a firm, won't they use your name in correspondence?)

*The message originates from someone you do not know, with a 'From:' address that seems odd. Too, the signature will be vague, almost never the same as the 'From:' address, but instead a generic phrase like "Account Team" or "Financial Services" or "email Team."

*Bad grammar, misspellings, clumsy punctuation and capitalization, and broken or badly-written English are nearly ubiquitous in phishing scams.

Want to learn more about phishing scams and how to identify them? Check out EDUCAUSE's pages on phishing, beginning here:

http://connect.educause.edu/term_view/Phishing

Since we use e-mail to communicate with you, please know that ITS staff who send messages do so either with their own accounts or with Macalester distribution lists, such as notification-L. All of us are listed in the online Directory, all of us use Macalester.edu accounts, and all of us include accurate contact information in messages we send. If you are suspicious of a message, please call our Help Desk at x.6525. Don't get caught by a phishing scam!

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