Recently, University of Minnesota e-mail account holders have been targeted with waves of fraudulent e-mails. These e-mails, which claim to be from the "UMN Edu Team" or "Customer Service," ask account holders to share their username and password with the sender--usually threatening to deactivate e-mail accounts if people don't reply quickly.

These messages are not from the University of Minnesota. The U of M Office of Information Technology (OIT) would like to remind you that the U of M will NEVER ask you to provide personal information such as passwords over e-mail. In addition, if you receive an unsolicited e-mail or you are unsure of the sender, do not reply, do not click any links contained within it, and do not open any attached files. Doing so has been known to infect computers.

Some of the e-mail messages are blatantly fraudulent, while others are more subtle and convincing, but all have been very effective in harvesting Internet IDs and passwords. One link has been known to take you to a login page that is very similar in appearance to the University Web login page.

See http://safecomputing.umn.edu/safepractices/phishing.html for good information and advice about these kinds of attacks, and for tips about how to tell a phishing attack from a legitimate University message. Remember that the University will NEVER ask for your password in an e-mail. If you receive an e-mail that claims to be from the University and asks for your Internet ID and password, forward it (with all headers and the entire message) to abuse@umn.edu. Fraudulent e-mail claiming to come from outside agencies (for example, PayPal) should be directed reported to the company being phished.

Please be aware that the University of Minnesota does require that all users reset their Internet passwords at least once per year, and OIT sends out e-mail reminders requesting that users reset their own passwords. If you need to change or reset your password but are concerned about the authenticity of the e-mail message, you can always change your password safely by opening a new web browser (such as Internet Explorer or Firefox) and navigating to www.umn.edu/myaccount or by calling 1-HELP (612-301-4357).

Posted 01:41 PM | Permalink

OIT's software license program office has moved from its Shepherd Labs location to its new location at 2218 University Ave. SE. Software duplication (fee involved) and borrowed software or media previously handled at Shepherd Labs now is handled at the new location.

Posted 11:46 AM | Permalink

Novell Netware users are reminded that OIT no longer will provide technical support for Novell systems after Monday, Dec. 1. Since central Active Directory has been deployed at the University, Novell Netware server usage has dropped sharply. Departments wishing to continue using Novell systems should find alternate service hosting. OIT is committed to smooth departmental migration to central Active Directory, offering guides, training, and assistance throughout the process. Questions should be directed to umnad@umn.edu. For more information, visit www.umn.edu/umnad.

Posted 11:43 AM | Permalink

Effective April 28, the hours for some walk-in helpline locations changed. For up-to-date locations and times, visit www.umn.edu/adcs/help/helpline.html.

Posted 11:41 AM | Permalink

Because of increased concern over plagiarism in the digital age, the University has been offering instructors a Web-based plagiarism detection tool called Turnitin. After an extensive review of several Web-based detection services and an analysis of our current usage, the Office of the Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and the Office of Information Technology (OIT) have chosen to not renew the University's license with Turnitin and will instead offer the plagiarism detection service SafeAssign.

SafeAssign will continue as a resource that instructors can use to either detect incidents of plagiarism or to confirm suspected plagiarism and identify the improperly used or cited source material. It is a convenient alternative built into the University's existing WebVista course management structure, allowing for a significant cost savings to the University.

SafeAssign is expected to become available mid May, and Turnitin will remain available for use until its Aug. 1 contract expiration date. Training is planned to help ease the transition to SafeAssign.

OIT will send more information to the campus community in the coming weeks via e-mail. Information also will be available on the WebVista site at http://webvista.umn.edu/ as it becomes available.

Posted 11:38 AM | Permalink

After several weeks of evaluation, OIT's Internet Services has deployed more aggressive anti-phishing technology on the central mail servers used for all inbound e-mail. The software currently is detecting more than 1,000 additional phishing messages daily.

As usual, messages containing known viruses or phishing attempts will be discarded after logging information about the message on your personal block list, available by visiting www.umn.edu/myaccount and clicking "Show Blocked Incoming E-mail."

Internet Services advises e-mail users that the enhancement generally will not detect "spear" phishing (look-alike e-mails) appearing to come from central U of M e-mail administration asking for your Internet ID and password. If you receive any messages of this sort, you should report them to abuse@umn.edu for investigation, and delete them. When reporting these e-mails, you should include the full e-mail headers, especially the "Reply-To:" and "Received:" fields.

Posted 11:27 AM | Permalink

There will be an Open House at the Usability Lab on Wednesday May 28 at 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. in Room B-26 Walter Library on the Minneapolis East Bank campus. Visitors may drop by anytime during the Open House. No registration is necessary.

The objective of the Usability Lab is to help web design teams obtain the user's perspective on the way that information is presented in a web design on a computer screen. In the interest of making the user's experience as easy and intuitive as possible, the lab provides an environment in which teams are able to watch users try out a web site or other design. Screen capture, video, audio, and eye-tracking equipment are used to provide usability testing and other services. If you're interested in the lab for research or in usability consulting services for a web design, and you'd like to see a demo, please stop by anytime during the Open House. Everyone is welcome.


For more info: http://www.umn.edu/usability/


Contact is: Alice de la Cova, Usability Services Manager. Phone: 612-624-9365.

Posted 03:28 PM | Permalink

The Office of Information Technology has been working to upgrade the current wireless network on the Twin Cities and Rochester campuses. The new network will provide users with faster connection and better security.

This story has recently been featured on the UMN News Web site. Read the article.

Posted 09:27 AM | Permalink

Recently, another wave of fraudulent University of Minnesota look-alike e-mails asking for personal and confidential information was sent to some University e-mail account holders. These e-mails are not from the University of Minnesota. Do not respond to these e-mails or click on any links or attachments contained within them. The University will never ask you to provide your password or other personal information by e-mail.

Some of the e-mail messages are blatantly fraudulent, while others are more subtle. Most have "clumsy" English, but all have been very effective in harvesting user IDs and passwords. One link takes you to a login page that is very similar in appearance to the University Web login page.

See www.safecomputing.umn.edu/ for good information and advice about these kinds of attacks, and remember that the University will NEVER ask for your password. If you receive an e-mail that asks you (or orders you) to send your account ID and/or password to the sender, you should report it to abuse@umn.edu and delete the message.

Posted 09:10 AM | Permalink