News and Announcements

February 1, 2012
The IT Group is going green. Join us!

Beginning February 1^st through April 20^th, the IT Group is hosting a recycle mania contest. Recycle unwanted, unused and no longer needed electronic files from your email and P drive storage. A snapshot will be taken before the start of the contest and the person who has reduced the largest amount of space in these two areas will win a free lunch! Managing your space in your email account and your storage drives has many benefits for both you and Keene State College. Regular maintenance provides:

• Cost containment – If information is never deleted and storage space is exceeded, it may be necessary to resolve this issue by purchasing additional space.
• Easier access to important information - By organizing drives and email efficiently, it will be easier for you to locate important information without unnecessary searching allowing for more efficient use of time.
• Reduction in folder duplication and outdated information – Reviewing your folders and email on a regular schedule will help you identify folder duplication allowing you to delete what is not necessary and reduce your storage space.

The HelpDesk website provides excellent tips and best practices to help you manage your files more efficiently.

Join us!

January 25, 2012
Media Enhanced Classroom Technology Problems

What do you do if you discover the technology working in the media enhanced classrooms isn’t working properly? You call the HelpDesk. Did you know that the HelpDesk has a special line reserved just for classroom emergencies? When you call the HelpDesk at 358-2532 for assistance, you will have the option to choose number 1 – the classroom emergency hotline. Your call will be picked up immediately and HelpDesk support will come to your classroom to resolve the issue or provide another solution. Please don’t just put an “out-of-order” sign on the equipment without contacting us. Contacting the HelpDesk is critical, so we can get the equipment operating correctly for the next class to use.

If you have any questions regarding this or any other technology issue, please feel free to call the HelpDesk, email helpdesk@keene.edu or stop by the office on 2^nd floor of Elliot Hall.

January 12, 2012
New antivirus support at KSC

During the month of January, the IT Group will be transitioning antivirus support from McAfee Virus Protection to Microsoft Forefront on campus computers. This transition offers the college considerable savings as well as a proven antivirus solution.

This replacement will automatically occur outside of business hours and will happen immediately if your computer is on. If not, it will happen when you next turn on your computer. There is no need to leave your computer on at night if that is not your normal practice. You should notice very little change, however, you may see some system generated messages while the update completes. As the installation of Microsoft Forefront is fast, these messages should only appear for a few seconds.

If you have any questions regarding this or any other technology issue, please feel free to contact the HelpDesk at 358-2532, email helpdesk@keene.edu or stop by our office on the 2nd floor of Elliot Hall.

December 13, 2011
Phishing Attempt Notification about the rejected Direct Deposit payment

The IT Group has become aware of a Phishing attempt targeting Banner HR Users. Users are receiving an email notification about a rejected Direct Deposit payment. This message is not legitimate and is a Phishing attempt to fool you into providing your personal information.

It is important to remember not to click on any links in unsolicited email and never to give out your personal information to any source. For more information regarding Phishing and other helpful security information, please visit IT Group Security at: http://www.keene.edu/it/security/default.cfm

If you have any questions regarding this or any other technology issue, please feel free to contact the HelpDesk at 358-2532, email helpdesk@keene.edu or stop by our office on the 2nd floor of Elliot Hall.

November 29, 2011
Phishing websites

Did you know...

Phishing can take place on websites as well as in email.

Do you know how to identify a legitimate website from a Phishing website?

There are some very specific things to look for before you ever provide personal or financial information on the web.

Take this brief web Phishing test from our friends at VeriSign and see if you can spot a real website from a Phishing site.

https://www.phish-no-phish.com/

And as always, if you have any questions regarding any Phishing attempt or technology issue, please contact the HelpDesk at 358-2532, email helpdesk@keene.edu or stop by our office on the 2^nd floor of Elliot Hall.

November 9, 2011
Cloud Storage

Cloud Storage: Placing data and services in the cloud amplify concerns around data breaches and compliancy with federal, state and institutional policies. Dropbox is not secure cloud storage and no KSC restricted data should be placed there. Reference KSC Data Access Policy for restricted/unrestricted data clarifications.

July, 7, 2011
FY12 Campus IT Projects

The President and her cabinet recently endorsed the FY12 Campus IT Projects.

The full list can be found at FY12 IT Projects and incorporates both USNH Long Range Technology Plans and KSC Technology Plans and is tightly aligned with the college strategic framework. This is a great list of projects that provide ‘broad campus value’ and will require the full campus commitment to ensure their success.

Technology project updates are reviewed by the cabinet three times a year to ensure that priorities are still aligned with institutional needs. Project priorities and resources will be adjusted if needed.

Laura Seraichick, Chief Information Officer

Keene State College

lseraichick@keene.edu

June, 9 2011
Weekly Maintenance Windows

To maintain a high level of security and accessibility for KSC systems and services, a series of planned maintenance windows have been defined that allow for routine maintenance work to be completed on KSC servers, systems, and networks. Maintenance windows streamline service disruptions for the campus by having an established time for routine ITG maintenance work during off-hours.

Weekly Maintenance Windows

During the IT Group planned maintenance windows, you may experience intermittent access while KSC systems are being serviced. When IT Group work will impact critical systems beyond intermittent access, ITG will coordinate work to minimize the service disruption to the campus.

Reminders of the ITG maintenance windows times will be communicated to campus on a routine basis throughout the year in Campus News and on our website.

If you have any questions regarding this or any other technology issue, please feel free to contact the HelpDesk at 358-2532, email helpdesk@keene.edu or stop by our office on the 2^nd floor of Elliot Hall.

May 5, 2011
Workstation Refresh Cycles

Years ago, KSC committed to a workstation refresh cycles in support of the college business needs and incorporated this cycle into our technology planning process. This commitment continues to serve KSC well however, in light of the current financial situation, it is prudent to examine our policies and identify areas where we can potentially save dollars.

A proposal to change our workstation refresh cycle was submitted and the cabinet approved it. We are currently working on a phased implementation approach whereby it will take us a few years to totally migrate all workstations to new cycle. While we are in transition, some will be upgraded at 4yrs so we avoid having 6yr old machines on the network. We cannot allow computers older than 5yrs to be on our network due to the additional maintenance, support, performance, reliability and security issues they present.

This change brings risks and challenges along with the savings. Exceptions will need to occur and will be based on programmatic changes (software), technology changes, and hardware failures. We anticipate an increase in support calls and $ for repairs/part along with reduced processing power and reliability. However, the IT Group is committed to minimizing the impact through proactive measures such as reimaging, additional memory, etc..

Summer hours for the IT Group HelpDesk beginning Monday, May 9th are as follows:

Friday, 8 a.m.-5:00 p.m.

Regular hours will resume on Wednesday, August 24th.

March 14, 2011
Wireless Access in the Classrooms

Great News! As of March 1^st, the IT Group project to provide wireless network access in all classrooms is now complete. This phase of the overall campus wireless project provides a more robust network, greater coverage area and increased network speed. Campus wireless map is being currently being updated to reflect the extended coverage.

It's the start of a new year and the beginning of a new semester. It is an exciting time filled with anticipation, but it is important to remember the lessons we learned last year. While our wish for everyone may be a happy new year, there are those in the cyber world who would like to make that difficult for us.

This is an actual message many on campus received last year. Is this email Phishing or is it real?

This email is Phishing. You can tell because Keene State College and the IT Group would never ask you to verify any account information through email or any other electronic source. We already have that information. Also, this message does not use the standard template you always see from the IT Group when we communicate to campus. Our template always:

• addresses the GAL, not individuals and it always comes from the IT Group HelpDesk.
• we identify ourselves as the IT Group at the beginning of the message.
• we tell you the reason behind our communication (routine maintenance, infrastructure upgrade, etc.).
• we always provide our contact information (including phone number, email address, and building location), in case you have any questions or concerns.

However, most importantly, legitimate institutions, including the IT Group, will not ask for personal information through email. There are never any exceptions to this.

We hope this information will help you better understand Phishing when you receive a suspicious email. However, whenever you are in doubt, do not hesitate to contact the HelpDesk at358-2532, email helpdesk@keene.edu , or stop by our office on the second floor of Elliot Hall. We will be glad to help.

2010-11 IT News