IT news roundup for June, early July

K-State IT highlights from the past month or more are listed below for those who've been away from campus this summer. In addition, check the InfoTech Tuesday newsletter archive for more IT happenings at K-State.

• June 30 was the last day Windows 98/SE/ME/NT computers can connect to K-State's network
  (InfoTech Tuesday, April 18)
• Authorization-code phone service for personal use was disabled by Telecommunications on July 1
  (InfoTech Tuesday, May 23)
• K-State graduates win electronic theses and dissertation awards
  (Media Relations, June 8)
• Wireless now available in Coffman Commons
  (InfoTech Tuesday, June 13)

• K-State students' computer science project that helps gardeners track plants at Overland Park Arboretum will benefit home gardeners, too
  (Media Relations, June 26)
• K-State researchers using GIS to locate sites for carcass disposal (Media Relations, July 4)

Macs need security updates, too

The June 29 CNET news article "Attack code out for Apple flaw" is a good reminder that Apple Macintosh computers need to be patched regularly just like Microsoft Windows computers. On June 27, Apple issued a version 10.4.7 update to its Mac OS X operating system. A day later, a security researcher released code that can exploit one of the vulnerabilities patched by that update.

Like Windows users, Mac users also need to make sure their computers are configured to apply security patches automatically as they are released by Apple. In this case, make sure the 10.4.7 update is applied successfully.

Test drive the latest version of K-State Online

Test drive the new version of K-State Online by visiting beta.online.ksu.edu. This is a test site where users can see first hand the changes to the new system. If you develop a course or edit a course in the beta site, none of those changes will be saved.

Feedback about the beta version can be e-mailed to helpdesk@k-state.edu and include "BETA test" in the Subject line.

Trend Micro update at SIRT roundtable July 14

The Trend Micro transition team will lead this month's SIRT roundtable discussion to provide a project update for departmental security contacts. The meeting is scheduled 9:15-10:30 a.m. Friday, July 14, in Staterooms 1 and 2 of the K-State Student Union, and is open to all K-Staters.

System administrators will learn how to gain access to the antivirus software, as well as deadlines for having software installed on K-State computers. If you have questions about the transition to Trend Micro, contact Royce Gilbert, royce@k-state.edu, 532-0547.

Security tip: Don't get hooked by a phishing scam

Phishing is a criminal activity that attempts to fraudulently acquire sensitive information -- such as your bank account information, or credit card number, or personal identity information -- through e-mail or a bogus website. Criminals are getting more sophisticated in their trickery. Often the fraudulent website looks exactly like the legitimate site it mimics.

The website www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com provides excellent advice on how to avoid being duped by phishing and other types of Internet scams. Besides helpful tips, you can file a complaint at this site if you become aware of a scam or believe you were a victim.

Be sure to also contact local law enforcement immediately, though, if you are a victim of Internet fraud, so they can start a criminal investigation. The title of this website offers some of the best advice to keep from falling prey to these criminals -- if it looks too good to be true, it probably is!

IT by the numbers: Survey on latest tech buzzwords

A May 2 Microsoft article, "American Adults in the Dark About Latest Tech Buzzwords", presents interesting numbers on how well the latest tech buzzwords are understood by U.S. adults, such as:

• 43 percent say they're knowledgeable about the latest tech buzzwords
• 71 percent say they've never heard of RSS
• 46 percent are not sure what Internet tagging is

The webpage also defines blogs, VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), beta, RSS, and Internet tagging.

Archive
Subscribe
Search archive
Send news

Managing editor
     Betsy Edwards
Executive editor
     Rebecca Gould

Popular IT

IT events
and deadlines

July 14 (Fri)
Trend Micro update at SIRT roundtable. Open to all K-Staters. 9:15-10:30 a.m. Union staterooms 1 and 2.

Aug. 21 (Mon)
Classes begin for fall 2006 semester.

August
All residence halls will have wireless network by the start of the fall semester.

Fall 2006
Doctoral students will be required to submit dissertations electronically.

Fall 2007
Masters students will be required to submit theses and reports electronically.

How do I upload files in K-State Online? See axiolearning.org's file-upload tutorial to learn more.

Can my K-State eID get disabled?

If my eID gets disabled, how do I get notified? And where's the policy on eIDs?

First off, your eID is not disabled. Instead, you lose access to resources that are reserved for current students and employees. For more information about your eID and resources, see What happens to my eID when I leave K-State?

K-Staters receive an e-mail notification approximately two weeks before they lose access to IT resources. The notice includes information about forwarding e-mail to a non-K-State e-mail account. The K-State policy on eIDs that includes eligibility requirements can be found at www.k-state.edu/policies/ppm/3450.html.

Virustotal.com, a useful virus-checking tool

Viruses, worms, botnets, and other forms of malware evolve and spread so quickly these days that new forms can appear in your e-mail Inbox before the antivirus software companies have had time to analyze the malicious code and update their definition files to detect and remove it.

While the antivirus software used at K-State is very good at quickly updating definition files to catch new threats, Trend Micro or Symantec will not always be the first vendors to analyze the new malware and update definition files. Thus, in some cases it can be helpful to check other antivirus vendors' software to see if they have identified the malware.

The website www.virustotal.com allows you to do that. Virustotal is a free, independent service that analyzes suspicious files by running them through 25 different antivirus products and reporting the results.

To test whether an attachment contains malware:

1. First, save the suspicious file to your hard drive. Note that just saving the attachment will not infect your computer -- just be careful not to open or execute the attachment since that's when it will do its damage.
2. In the vast majority of cases, the antivirus software running on your computer will detect malicious code and alert you when you try to save the attachment. If this happens, there's no need to submit the file to virustotal.com since you know it's malware and you need to get rid of it!
3. If your antivirus software does not detect any malware, go to www.virustotal.com, select "Browse" in the upper right corner of the webpage, and select the file you want to test. Press the "Send" button to submit the file, and then view the results in the browser window.

Virustotal is a popular service, so sometimes your request will go into a queue to be processed later. If your request gets queued, the website will give an estimate of how long before it will scan your file.

Like any antivirus solution, virustotal.com is not able to detect 100 percent of malware. Thus, it is important to always use what is often the best prevention tool -- common sense. Be suspicious of every attachment. If you're not expecting an e-mail with an attachment from someone, or a message looks in any way suspicious, contact the person to verify they sent it before you open the attachment.

Virustotal.com also cannot do anything to quarantine, repair, or remove malicious code. So, the antivirus software running on your computer is still the primary tool in your defense against malware.