Tech Know Bytes - Fall 2016

Help protect UCCS and your UCCS account from Phishing

Phishing is an email scam that attempts to fool you into giving up personal information; including your UCCS credentials. Although we do everything we can to prevent these emails from getting through, you may still receive these fake email messages occasionally. Learn how to protect your UCCS credentials and not become a victim.

UCCS IT, the UCCS Help Desk, or UCCS IT Security will never ask you to verify your account, or any personal information, by email.

Here is an example of a fake email, recently sent to UCCS faculty, students, and staff.

Here are some telltale signs that this email is malicious:

• The email contains a suspicious link. Be suspicious of any email with a link. Check out the link site by hovering over the link and reading the exact location. UCCS websites end with "uccs.edu" - suspect all others.
• The email is asking you about personal account information. We will never ask you to verify personal information by email.
• The email is poorly written or has grammar errors and typos, including capitalization mistakes.
• You were not expecting this email or this is not a conversation that you started.
• The email uses terms or names that you are not familiar with or seem, somehow, wrong to you.
• The email uses emergency terms like: Alert! Warning! Act Now! Immediately! This is an attempt to scare you into reacting.
• The email could contain actual UCCS graphics. Look twice.
• The email could come from a valid UCCS email account. Be suspicious.

If you have any doubts about an email verify it first. Do not click, and do not respond, before you verify the email. You can delete phishing email or you can contact Information Security (security@uccs.edu) or the IT help desk (helpdesk@uccs.edu) with any concerns.

IT 2016 Successes

• Proposal and installation of the new Hydration Station with the Green Action Fund
• New redundant Internet connection. Installation of our primary data center generator to keep our primary data center up and running
• Completion of the VoIP (Voice over Internet Phone) upgrade - offering more telecommunication options to the campus.
• Completion of the technology upgrade of several classrooms in Columbine and El Pomar.
• Finalized plans and purchased equipment to make our core infrastructure ready for the next seven years, including areas such as networking, compute, and security.

PawPrints

UCCS uses a Pay-for-Printing model for student printing on campus. Costs of printing are $0.06 per single-sided (simplex) page and $0.08 per double-sided (duplex) page. These charges are added to the students' account and will be listed as "Paw Prints charges". You can find more information about Paw Prints and UCCS printing services on our website. COMING SOON: Paw Prints is partnering with the Copy Center to offer color printing and copying in the Library and Columbine Hall.

Introducing: TeamDynamix and Project Tracking

IT is currently making efforts to better streamline their project tracking processes. With the purchase of TeamDynamix and new procedures in place, we are striving to create:

• Better time management
• Better resource management
• Meet our (customer) expectations
• Establish metrics
• Allow our staff to do what they do best - their job.

A list of current projects and their status can be found at uccs.edu/it.

If you have a project idea or need from IT, we encourage you to submit your Project Request through TeamDynamix. Each Project Request is reviewed by a small internal committee to see if it meets the minimum criteria of a project and if the idea supports the campus mission/vision. Should your idea be selected as a project, you will work closely with a Project Lead over the course of the project. You will also be able to follow the progress of the project/s, from the Client Portal within TeamDynamix. Contact Sarah for access to TeamDynamix or for questions concerning Projects.

We Want You to Know

I. Remote assistance - The Help Desk can provide remote assistance for students, staff, and faculty to help them solve some of their computer issues without having to come to the help desk.

II. Work Orders - For computer issues on campus we can schedule a one hour work order for a technician to come to your office and assist you.

III. Computer Checkups - For faculty, students and staff computers. When your computer starts running slow or pop-ups start getting in the way, we can take a look at the computer and make some suggestions on fixes. Some fixes can be applied right at the desk for free.

IV. Self Service - We offer a couple ways for customers to help themselves with our services. The Self Service portal allows users to request various services without having to contact the help desk. Our Knowledge Base allows faculty, students and staff to search our knowledge base for How-To's on how to connect to our services. The How-To's also have step by step instructions with accompanying pictures.

V. Site Improve - New software aimed at helping website owners keep websites up to date by sending a report on broken links, misspellings as well as accessibility errors. Contact Web Services for more information.

VI. Web Site assistance - Send a email to web@uccs.edu to create a ticket within Web Services for help with updating web pages, restructuring content and style issues.

Information Technology ID Cards

I.T. employees are often found across campus working on data ports, installing new phones, fixing computers and conducting official business, but are they really a UCCS I.T. employee or an imposter? I.T. takes security very seriously and you should as well. This is reason we will start wearing UCCS I.T. branded ID badges to identify ourselves. These ID badges are the official means of identification for all I.T. employees. In today's world, security is a growing concern, especially in I.T. If someone states they are from I.T. and do NOT have a badge, please call the Help Desk at extension 3536 immediately. Do not let the employee onto your computer, in your office or supply any information until the employee has been verified. On behalf of the entire I.T. team, we thank you for your cooperation and diligence as we continually strive to provide you with outstanding service.