• Feb. 5, 2008

Password deadline is only a week away (Feb. 13)

by Betsy Edwards, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 5, 2008

Wednesday, Feb. 13, is the deadline for all K-Staters to change the password on their eIDs for spring semester. This includes individual eIDs as well as group accounts. To change your eID password, go to the eid.k-state.edu site, sign in to your eProfile, and under Password Settings, click "Change your eID password or password-reset options." For security purposes, passwords cannot be reused within a two-year period. See the Password FAQs for more details. If you need assistance, contact the IT Help Desk at 785-532-7722.

Landon Lecture Feb. 11 to be on TV, Web

by Betsy Edwards, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 5, 2008

K-State's next Landon Lecture will be presented by Chinese Ambassador H.E. Zhou Wenzhong at 2:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, in McCain Auditorium. It will be available via live, on-air broadcast on K-State TV (Cable Channel 8). The lecture will also be re-broadcast on K-State TV starting at 7 p.m., and will be broadcast several times through the week, said Susan Jagerson, project coordinator for the Educational Communications Center. Check the K-State TV online schedule for details.

Live webcasts (both video- and audio-streaming) will be available that day via the Landon Lecture website provided by the Office of Mediated Education. A RealMedia Player is required for viewing/listening to lectures, and the site has links to download and install the player. Lectures are also archived on the site and can be viewed any time.

TechBytes Feb. 7 (Thursday): Password security

by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 5, 2008

Harvard Townsend will present "Password Security" at 1:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 7, in 501 Hale Library. Come learn the tricks of the trade of creating strong passwords. See last week's article for complete details.

TechBytes seminars are free and open to the K-State community. The series is also video streamed live for off-campus viewers and those who wish to view it from their desktop. See the TechBytes site for handouts, videos, and resources from previous seminars, plus a link to the next live video.

Security roundtable this Friday on identity theft, scams

by Harvard Townsend, IT security
published Feb. 5, 2008

Since thousands of K-Staters received a scam e-mail last week that tried to trick them into divulging their eID password, this month's IT security roundtable will discuss how to recognize a scam and what to do should you become a victim of a scam or identity theft.

The roundtable will be 9:15-10:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 8, in the Union Staterooms 1&2. As always, the IT security roundtable is open to anyone and sponsored by SIRT. Topics to be covered include:

  • Characteristics of two scam e-mails sent to thousands of K-Staters last week that provide clues that they are a scam
  • Why you should never reply, even if you do not provide any personal information
  • What is "spear phishing"?
  • What to do if you become a victim
  • What is identity theft and why is it such a big problem?
  • How is it different yet related to financial fraud (like a stolen credit card number)?
  • Is the risk to a debit card different from the risk of using a credit card?
  • What is the difference between a fraud alert placed on your credit, a free credit report, fee-based credit reporting and monitoring, and freezing your credit file?
  • What should I look for in my free annual credit report?

Macbook Air demo model available at Union Computer Store

by Chris Loehr, K-State Student Union Computer Store
published Feb. 5, 2008

A MacBook Air demo unit has arrived at the K-State Student Union Computer Store. Education pricing on the MacBook Air starts at $1,699. The MacBook Air is being billed as the world's thinnest notebook computer. More info is at www.apple.com/macbookair. Feel free to stop by the computer store and check it out.

eTips Feb. 13: Tips for creating lengthy documents in Word

by Cathy Rodriguez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 5, 2008

Marty Courtois will present an eTips session on "Tips for creating lengthy documents in Word" at 4 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13, desktop webinar via Wimba. Do you want to find more efficient ways to manage long and complex Word documents (reports, procedure manuals, dissertations, etc.)? Do you find yourself spending a lot of time reformatting your documents? Using styles in Word will help you become more efficient and save time. This session will cover two essential Word tools for creating long documents: Using Styles to control the structure and formatting of your document, and inserting a table of contents that is automatically updated by Word. These tools will be demonstrated with Word 2003, but the same basic techniques apply to Word 2007 and Word for Mac 2004.

eTips registration is required at least 24 hours in advance to allow time to add you to the session and ensure your workstation is configured properly for accessing the session.

Some iSIS training sessions Feb. 6-14 canceled

by Aimee Hagedorn, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 5, 2008

The following iSIS training sessions for advisors have been canceled. If you were registered to attend one of these sessions, please register for a different session. If none of the sessions are suitable, notify Brian Arthaud-Day at bcad@k-state.edu and your name will be added to the list of users needing alternate training dates/times. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Canceled iSIS training sessions for advisors:

  • Wed, Feb. 6: 8:30 a.m., 3 p.m.
  • Thu, Feb. 7: 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 3 p.m.
  • Fri, Feb. 8: 10:30 a.m., 1 p.m, 3 p.m.
  • Thu, Feb. 14 (Dean's Office Staff only): 8 a.m., 10 a.m.

Office 2007 converter (beta) for Mac users

by Chris Loehr, K-State Student Union Computer Store
published Feb. 5, 2008

With Office 2007 for Windows gaining more users every day, Mac users are having some trouble opening the XML format files that Office 2007 uses. Microsoft has posted a converter that is listed as "beta" for users to download and use. System requirements and more are listed for the converter at www.microsoft.com/mac/downloads.mspx.

Computer store special on end-of-life MacBooks

by Chris Loehr, K-State Student Union Computer Store
published Feb. 5, 2008

MacBook end-of-life computers are on sale from $999 to $1,099. These units have a full warranty and are new in box. They may have Tiger (OS X 10.4) installed, but a Leopard (OS X 10.5) should be included in the box. See the full specs at lowendmac.com. Units listed with 2GB RAM installed are factory installed by Apple and covered by Apple's warranty. An educational ID is required for purchase.

Security tip of the week

How to recognize a scam e-mail

by Harvard Townsend, IT security
published Feb. 5, 2008

Thousands of K-Staters received one or both of two scam e-mails sent last week that tried to trick them into divulging their eID password. This attack, known as "spear phishing" since it targets a specific group, was similarly reported at numerous other universities. The hackers customized the e-mail for K-State, extracted all "ksu.edu" and "k-state.edu" e-mail addresses from their spam lists, and sent the scam e-mail to those addresses only. Five people at K-State replied to the fraudulent e-mail, two of which included their eID password in their reply. Fortunately, they changed their password before any apparent damage was done.

Reports from other universities reveal that in most cases, the stolen e-mail address and password was used to send more spam to others, and in one case, was used to access that person's human resources self-service function in PeopleSoft, where they changed their address and tried to change their name.

The primary way to prevent becoming a victim is to never reply to the scam e-mails, even if it is just to harangue the hacker or spammer. Once you reply, the spammer knows your e-mail is a legitimate address belonging to a person who reads their e-mail, so you will only get more and more spam.

Thus, the first step is to recognize a scam when it arrives in your Inbox. Let's look at characteristics of the spear phishing e-mail scam received at K-State to help you recognize a scam when you receive one.

  1. K-State IT support will NEVER send you an e-mail asking for your password.
  2. Watch for misspellings, poor grammar, or unusual forms of words. In this case, they used "Ksu" instead of "KSU" or "K-State", and "Kansas State University" is never mentioned.
  3. The e-mail did not come from a K-State address -- it was from "ksuteam@bellsouth.net".
  4. The reply address likewise did not go to K-State. Note the "Reply-to:" header of "accountupgrades03@live.com".
  5. The message did not originate at a K-State IP address (unique number assigned to a computer on the Internet). The "X-Originating-IP:" header lists "207.115.11.156" as the source IP address. All K-State IP addresses start with "129.130", not "207.115".
  6. It asked for your "Country or Territory:", which would be a very odd thing for K-State IT support staff to request.
  7. No specific person or unit signed the message -- it merely said it was from the "Ksu Team".
  8. It contained no information about who to contact if you have questions, other than the nonsensical "Ksu.edu BETA".

As a general rule, be suspicious of any e-mail you receive that asks for any kind of personal or account information. Always check with the alleged sender, your IT support person, or the IT Help Desk (785-532-7722) to verify the validity of a request if you think it might be legitimate.

K-State Online

Why some class members show as "Not Enrolled"?

by Sarah Silva, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 5, 2008

Why does "Not Enrolled" display in the Status column for some people on my K-State Online Roster? Does this mean they don't have access to my course?

Users that you added to your Roster by a User Search, Create a User, or Import Users will show as Not Enrolled, even though they may have access to your course.

Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for 2007 documents

by Ernie Perez, Information Technology Assistance Center
published Feb. 5, 2008

Microsoft has changed the MS Office Suite 2007 file formats. As a result, when saving any document created in Office 2007, it will be saved in the new (2007) format. If you are using Office 2000, XP, or 2003, download the Microsoft Office 2007 Compatability Pack to open, edit, or save most files.

Spotlight

Brad Harwell remembered

by the editors, InfoTech Tuesday
published Feb. 5, 2008. updated noon May 28, 2008

photo of Brad Harwell
Brad Harwell

Brad Harwell, 34, senior application services administrator in the Office of Mediated Education, died Thursday, Jan. 31, due to complications from a genetic liver disease. Brad worked with the Application Services Administration (ASA) team in OME since 2003. For the past two-three years, he had been the Senior ASA and Team Lead for that group.

"Those who worked with Brad know that he was bright, talented, and friendly," said Rob Caffey, OME director. "He was also a huge K-State sports fan and would have been so pleased with the basketball team's [Jan. 30] win over KU."

"Brad's passing was a major loss to OME and to K-State," said Scott Finkeldei, OME assistant director. "He was a vital member of our team and an incredible guy to have around. He provided excellent technical leadership, always with a steady hand, and was able to identify pitfalls and concerns in projects. Brad asked the questions that needed to be asked and pursued solutions that would best solve the problems."

Finkeldei noted that Harwell "was a positive person who didn't let his health issues show to people and stayed involved in his work until the last possible minute. We will miss Brad's technical skills but most of all will miss his upbeat personality, his quiet humor, and his enthusiasm for K-State. Thanks, Brad, for the time we had with you."

"Brad was an insightful, generous, friendly, and thoughtful person," said Jeremiah Shirk, OME application services administrator. "He was great to work with, combining both professional excellence and good-natured fun. We will remember him as a superb systems administrator, as a mentor, a leader, and a great friend. Brad will be missed."