Blog No Longer Active

Thank you for coming to the MHC Information Technology Blog.

 Please be advised that this blog is no longer actively maintained.  Page view statistics indicate that this site is being accessed very infrequently and is not serving its purpose of getting information out to the college community.

Feel free to contact me directly regarding any MHC IT related topic.
- Chuck Payne

Passwords Are Like Underwear

You shouldn't leave them out where people can see them.

You should change them regularly.

And you shouldn't loan them out to strangers.

 

Taken from:

http://security.calpoly.edu/sites/security/files/docs/posters/Passwords-Are-Like-Underwear-Poster.pdf

Smart-Phone and Tablet Disposal - Mind Your Data!

Your smart-phone or tablet will often contain a great deal of information about you. So, when it comes time to replace your tablet or smart-phone, be sure you 'wipe' all data from it securely .  This process is usually not difficult; is quick and effective, and will ensure you are not inadvertently passing all sorts of personal information along with your old device.

https://www.securingthehuman.org/newsletters/ouch/issues/OUCH-201205_en.pdf

Protecting Private Information

Have you ever thought about how we, as individuals and as a college, protect the personal information of each other, of our students and employees? It is a difficult challenge, as recent events at PSIs attest (see CBC article ).

As noted in the article, the UBC laptop that was stolen had the hard drive encrypted. Encryption is the use of a cypher algorithm to make the contents of the drive unreadable without the deciphering key. For the last couple of years we have encrypted the hard drives of the laptops we buy for the college, however most of our older laptops are not encrypted. While encryption provides a measure of security if the laptop is stolen, it certainly is not foolproof, and there are many other ways in which data can be accessed, using technology or otherwise.

Trying to put in place technical and procedural measures so that only those who should have access to data can access it is a very large portion of the role of IT departments, ITS at MHC is no exception. No matter what we do, our efforts at security can be completely undermined very easily by thoughtless handling of data. People have busy and ever more complex lives, and spending time worrying about data protection is seldom a priority. However, it is prudent to take a steps to protect our own, our students, and our colleague’s personal information.

The following are examples of things people often do that pose a real risk of compromising security and exposing personal information:

- Sharing passwords

- Housing student personal information on home computers

- Carrying information on unencrypted USB devices (i.e. memory sticks)

- Letting family and friends use a college owned computer

- Storing college data on non-college owned or authorized systems.
This can be unwittingly done by using online backup services like Barracuda, MobileMe, Symantec backup, or IDrive.

- Posting student grades to non-college owned systems.
Yes, people do this! Many learning resource providers offer online grade books that instructors can set up for their students to access. In doing this you are handing student’s personal data over to some corporate entity. At MHC we have a wonderful Blackboard system that can be used to post marks online for students, and all students can access their final grades through the student portal.

- Using a local administrator account on a computer.
If the computer gets hacked or infiltrated by a virus or other malware, the malware or hacker will inherit the security context of the user account it is using at the time of the compromise. If the virus is running on an administrator account, the malware or hacker can alter the computer registry, load and change programs, and adjust settings much easier than if the computer was logged in with a general user account.


As always, with any IT related question or concern feel free to contact the IT Support Centre. They can advise and assist you in the use of the MHC computing environment.

If you are interested, read through other articles and websites related to information and identity security linked to below.

Best Practices for Keeping your Home Network Secure
http://www.nsa.gov/ia/_files/factsheets/Best_Practices_Datasheets.pdf

10 Immutable Laws of Security
http://technet.microsoft.com/library/cc722487.aspx

Royal Bank, Preventing Identity Theft
ttps://www.rbcadvicecentre.com/how-to-protect-yourself-from-identity-theft

Password Strength

Weak passwords are a threat to the security of your information. For a quick test to see if your passwords are strong, try this Microsoft "Password Checker" site:


https://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/password-checker.aspx

Trial of Evening Support Services

Based on feedback received last year as we developed the MHC Technology Plan, we will evaluate the demand for evening IT Support Services.  For the Winter 2011 academic term we will expand Support Centre hours until 8:00 PM Monday through Thursday. We will track the number and the type of service requests we get during the evenings to determine if the demand warrants a permanent allocation of additional resources to support evening service.

Starting Tuesday January 3, 2011 the IT Support Centre will be staffed for walk-up, phone, and email support until 8:00 PM Monday through Thursday.

To report technology problems or for assistance, please contact the IT Support Centre.

- Walk up service at window by room B223

- Tel: 403.529.3899
- email:  callcentre@mhc.ab.ca