In this Issue:

• Spring password audit
• Final computer equipment budget allocations available in public folders
• Recycle your obsolete computer during the summer
• Email phishing scams try to steal your personal information
• Beware of spyware!
• ITS profile: Dana Arnett
• Help Desk web site now searchable!

Spring password audit

On Friday, April 8, ITS ran its spring password audit. The purpose of this audit is to ensure that CC network users have passwords that cannot be cracked by “point and click” programs that are freely available for download over the Internet. These programs are easy enough to be used by anyone with even a minimum knowledge of computers. Scared yet? You should be, unless you have a secure password that protects your personal information and CC network resources.

What is a secure password? First of all, it’s not a word in a dictionary (any language). It’s also not a word in the dictionary with just a number added to the beginning or the end of it. Either of these types of passwords can be cracked easily by a computer program. So can a password that is a common word written backwards.

• is eight characters or longer
• contains both upper and lower case characters (e.g., a-z, A-Z)
• has digits and punctuation characters as well as letters e.g., 0-9, !@#$%^&*()_+|~-=\`{}[]:";'<>?,./)
• is not a word in any language, slang, dialect, jargon, etc.
• is not based on personal information, names of family, etc.
• is not shared with any other users, including friends, family members, etc.

If your password was cracked by our audit, you will receive an email telling you that you must change your password. You will have until Friday, April 15 to voluntarily change it, and after that date, the system will force you to change it. The best method for changing your password is to use the web email system, MS Outlook Web Access: http://www.coloradocollege.edu/resources/email.  After logging in to the server, click on the “Options” icon in the left pane, then on the “Change Password” button. This method works for most web browsers; however, if you are using a Macintosh computer, the Safari web browser works best for resetting passwords.

If you are one of the 4650 people whose password was not cracked, congratulations!  Your reward for having a strong password is being able to keep it, although you are always welcome to change it periodically for additional security.  If you are one of the 570 people who received an email telling you that you must change your password and you have questions, please contact the Help Desk at x6449 or email helpdesk@ColoradCollege.edu . You may also refer to the Password Policy web page at http://www.helpdesk.coloradocollege.edu/policies/password.htm.

Thank you for your patience in this process, and thank you for using a creative and secure password.  We are very pleased with the 45% improvement over the fall password audit!

Final computer equipment budget allocations available in public folder

The 2005-2006 Capital Equipment Request spreadsheet is available in the public folder system.  Go to the public folders within Microsoft Outlook and open the folder called “Budget 2005-06.”  Patrick Kirby, Director of Budget, posted the final capital equipment allocations on March 3, 2005.  The filename is “Approved Equipment AY 05-06.xls.”  Note that the Excel spreadsheet includes all capital equipment requests, not just computer equipment. If you were granted money for the purchase of a new computer, ITS will be able to begin placing orders once the new fiscal year begins on July 1, 2005.

Recycle your obsolete computer during the summer months

Due to limited storage space, ITS has made a minor change to the computer recycling/surplusing program.  This program takes older machines and either donates them to charity, or, if they are not in good enough condition to be donated, sends them to be properly recycled.  Previously, we accepted personal computers for recycling year-round.  Now we would like to ask your help in making the most of our limited storage space by only bringing in machines during the summer.

If you have an urgent need to dispose of your system and cannot wait until this summer, contact the Help Desk (x6449 or helpdesk@ColoradoCollege.edu) to get the vendor’s contact information so you can make arrangements directly with them to dispose of your system.  For more information about the recycling and surplusing program, visit the link below and page down to the recycling section:
http://www.helpdesk.coloradocollege.edu/policies/sustainablecomputing.htm.

Email phishing scams try to steal your personal information

Have you gotten an email recently from eBay telling you that you need to click on a link in the message to update your account information or your account will be closed?  Or perhaps you received email from Washington Mutual Bank, Regions Bank, or Sun Trust with a similar message.  All of these messages are examples of the latest email scam - phishing.  Phishers try to get you to give them your personal information by sending emails that appear to be from a reputable organization and asking you to click on a link in the message to update your information.  However, the link takes you to a fake site where the scammers collect your personal information, and then use it to steal your identity.  If you do receive one of these emails, delete it immediately!  Do not click on any links it may contain.  If you think an email may be legitimate, and it is from a bank with which you do business, contact the bank by telephone.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has posted some helpful information on avoiding phishers.  To read their consumer alert, entitled “How Not to Get Hooked by a ‘Phishing’ Scam,” visit the following web page: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/phishingalrt.htm.

Beware of spyware!

There’s a new threat to Windows computers posed by those innocent-looking and free screensavers, desktop images, toolbars, and weather tools that you download and install on your computer.  Many of them contain spyware.  Spyware is software whose activities range from

• the annoying: popping up bothersome ads every few minutes; to
• the sinister: tracking the websites you visit and sending that information to a third party; to
• the really scary: logging your keystrokes to capture passwords you enter and sending that information to a third party. 

In addition, spyware can slow the speed of your computer to a crawl.  Some well-known spyware offenders include webshots, hotbar, mysearch, and weatherbug.  If you have downloaded and installed any of these recently, please visit the Help Desk web page “Protect Your Computer” at http://helpdesk.coloradocollege.edu/howto/protectyourcomputer/spyware.htm for information on how to disinfect your machine.  If you’ve downloaded and installed other software recently, and your computer has slowed significantly, it’s quite likely you have a spyware problem.   Visit the above link for help.To keep your computer safe, don’t download software from the Internet!

For Mac users who are wondering if their machines are vulnerable to spyware, the answer is, “not yet.”  That could change at any time, however, so it’s still a good idea to avoid downloading software from the Internet.

ITS profile: Dana Arnett

Dana Arnett is the newest addition to the ITS team, replacing Joseph Sharman as the Director of User Services.  Dana comes to us from Oregon, where he was the Information Technology Manager at Oregon State University.  A self-described outdoorsman, Dana moved to Colorado to be near his kids, who reside in Arizona.  Dana also enjoys scuba diving, reading, and is a dyed in the wool Oakland Raider fan.  Dana is coming into his new position with a number of great ideas and plans for increasing the quality of service here at Colorado College.  Recognizing that the Block Plan is a time sensitive environment, Dana hopes to create a more proactive approach to problems using Altiris (our computer inventory management system) to recognize problems before they disrupt workflow, as well as working to correct the root of the problem, rather than simply bandaging it.  In this way, he hopes to limit the interactions that people need to have with the Help Desk, and thus, put people back to work faster.  Though Dana has been a manager for the past several years, he describes himself as a techie at heart who loves troubleshooting problems.  He has some great ideas, and is looking for hardworking students to join the Help Desk team.

Help Desk website now searchable!

We have recently added a search feature, powered by Google, to our Help Desk website (http://helpdesk.coloradocollege.edu) in order to make our growing library of online resources even more accessible.  Click the new link in the upper right corner of the site to access the search page, or you can go there directly by typing in the following address: http://helpdesk.coloradocollege.edu/search.htm. 

Are you interested in reading more about how the Postini spam filter can help you?  Enter “postini” into the search field and explore the results!  Are you hoping to find information about the GoWEST project and the associated self-help files online?  Enter “GoWEST” or “Banner” into the search field and read away!  Are you seeking help with Virtual Private Networking (VPN)?  Enter “vpn” into the search field for more information.

Please contact the Help Desk at x6449 or HelpDesk@ColoradoCollege.edu with any questions you have about this new feature.