Planned Network Maintenance Notice from OIT - 8/22/2008

This is a planned maintenance notice from OIT. Official statement: On Monday, August 25th, 2008, between 5:00 AM and 8:00 AM, OIT will be upgrading the OSU Wireless network on all OSU campuses. During this time, connectivity will be briefly interrupted in all areas that have Aruba Networks access points. The following locations will NOT be affected by the planned maintenance: - Browning Amphitheater - College of Business - Medical Center - Mirror Lake Intermittent network connectivity may be experienced throughout the entire time allotted, however OSU Wireless access should be fully restored upon completion of the maintenance. Customers may need to log back into the network upon completion of the maintenance. Questions about this planned maintenance should be directed to OIT at 688-HELP.

MCSS required Password changes - 8/1/2008

As a part of the MCSS, we are required to enforce ‘robust’ passwords for login. Although your Windows login is in name.n form, this password should be different from your name.n email password or your OSUWireless password. Passwords must meet the following minimum requirements: Not contain the user's account name or parts of the user's full name that exceed two consecutive characters Be at least eight characters in length Contain characters from three of the following four categories: * English uppercase characters (A through Z) *English lowercase characters (a through z) *Base 10 digits (0 through 9) *Non-alphabetic characters (for example, !, $, #, %) Complexity requirements are enforced when passwords are changed or created. This is not as difficult as it may sound, especially if you replace letters with similarly appearing numbers (i for l, 0 for o, 3 for e, etc), for example. A current password of ‘mysonjohn’ (which would not be acceptable) could become “M4s0nJ0hn’… So, you can retain a memorable phrase with strategic substitutions of numbers and upper case letters. The policy requires a password change every 6 months and recent passwords may not be reused. If you have an encrypted computer, changing the Windows login will automatically synchronize and update your Safeboot password as well, so the next login, your Safeboot password will be your NEW Windows password. If you are using more than one encrypted machine, it is VERY IMPORTANT that you immediately synchronize passwords on all encrypted machines (or you can forget which password goes with which machine). Connect on the wired network with your second encrypted machine using your OLD safeboot password; after logging into Windows, your Safeboot password will synchronize and the next time will be your NEW password. Repeat this process for every encrypted machine you login to. Jim Holman

Encryption & MCSS compliance, Phase II - 8/1/2008

We have completed the encryption phase of MCSS compliance and are now beginning implementation of the additional requirements. We very much appreciate the cooperation and tolerance of the 131 individuals who have brought their machines in for encryption and are pleased with the results so far. Beginning today, the ‘robust’ password policy is in effect, so that when you change or are required to change your login password, certain requirements must be met. There will be a follow-up email on this later. There remain about 50 computers on campus which still need to be joined to the OARDCWIN domain and we will be concentrating on that in the next week. There are a smaller number of computers running Windows 98 or 2000 which need upgrading; unfortunately, a few of these may require taking out of service and/or replacing since they cannot be made compliant. Jim Holman

Celebrate Retirement of Bert Bishop - 7/25/2008

Come and be a statistic – that is, one of the many who show up to celebrate the retirement of a very special statistician: - - - Bert Bishop - - - It would please Bert (and his CSS team-mates) to have folks stop by and recall some special moments, share your appreciation for work that he has done, or just have a bite to eat, say hi and wish him well! When: July 31, 2:00-4:00 Where: 131 Research Services – the "Statlab" Who: YOU Jody Lanham

MCSS compliance deadline approaching - 7/23/2008

Over the past months, we have sent a number of emails warning about the complete implementation of MCSS compliance. As the deadline rapidly approaches, these are the impacts you will see very soon: 1) Computers without current operating systems which cannot be brought into MCSS compliance must be removed from the network or placed behind a physical firewall. This includes any machines running Windows 95, 98, NT or 2000. 2) All PCs must login to the OARDCWIN Domain. By login policy, the following will be automatically enforced: a. The host firewall will be automatically turned on. This should not, but may "break" some file/printer sharing which can be remediated by use of network server shares. b. Automatic operating system security update downloads will be enforced. c. Password complexity will be enforced. If you have a login password which is not sufficiently robust, you will be required to change it at login time. d. Antivirus software is installed and up-to-date. 3) Personally owned laptops/desktops must be removed from the wired network and must connect to the network via OSUWireless. We recommend that if you are using a personally owned machine that you establish a wireless account and migrate to that interface now. For a more complete explanation of the MCSS requirements, please visit and read http://buckeyesecure.osu.edu/Policy/MCSS. Jim Holman

Music, Video, and Game Downloading - 7/23/2008

Over the past week, we have received several warnings from OIT security on behalf of the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America – the industry group involved in prosecuting copyright violations by illegal downloading/serving of copyrighted materials, especially music) identifying specific individuals who are participating in this activity. They can identify the specific material downloaded, the time, the computer, and the name of the individual. So far, we have only received cease and desist warnings and a warning from OIT security that such activity is a violation of the agreement you sign when given an OSU account. Please be warned that RIAA has a reputation for making examples of individuals by prosecuting for large sums of money and they win. Every time. If you are involved in any way with music, game, or video downloads, please make sure you are doing so legitimately from a source which properly pays any royalties for the intellectual property. You will find it much cheaper in the long run. Jim Holman

OIT Notice of Planned Network Maintenance - 7/16/2008

Lisa Calcara (Wed, Jul 16, 2008 at 1:33 PM) This is a planned maintenance notice from OIT. Official statement: OIT will be using the network maintenance window on Sunday, July 20, 2008, from 12 midnight to 3:00 AM, to do needed system upgrades to the DNS servers and OSUnet routers that serve all OSU campuses. Due to system redundancy, customers should not experience DNS service outages; however, the reloading of the OSUnet routers may cause short, intermittent outages. Questions regarding the planned maintenance may be directed to OIT at 688-HELP or by email at 8HELP@osu.edu.

Encryption Reminder - Faculty, Office Associates - 7/7/2008

If you are faculty, an office associate, or department administrator and have not yet scheduled your laptop and/or desktop for encryption, please call 3772 and make an appointment now. We only have a short time to encrypt a large number of machines, so the sooner the better. If we can get a machine in the afternoon so the longest portion can run overnight, we can usually have it ready by noon or shortly after the next day. As mentioned in Dr. Benfield’s email, this is not an optional exercise but is mandated by the Provost. Thanks for your cooperation in this task. Jim Holman Head, Computing and Statistical Services OARDC, Wooster OH 44691 Phone: (330) 263-3772 Fax: (330) 263-3874