'Tis the Season for Online Scams

Hello all,
I subscribe to an IT security newsletter from the the SANS (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security) Institute. Scams are ever present online, Christmas and New Years are no exception. I thought this month's newsletter may be helpful in securing your personal information.

http://www.securingthehuman.org/newsletters/ouch/issues/OUCH-201112_en.pdf

- Chuck

Thursday October 20 - Leave Office Computers on Overnight

We would like to ‘push’  the latest version of the F-Secure Client Security software to MHC computers (i.e. install the software over the network to individual computers) during the evening and overnight on October 20. For this to work, the computer must be running. Please leave your computer on overnight Thursday October 20.

Once the software is installed, the computer will reboot. With this in mind please do the following as you leave for the day:

1) Save your work, and close all files.

2) Close all applications (Outlook, Word, Excel)

3) Leave your computer running (you may log out if you wish, but do not ‘Shut Down’)

Your assistance is appreciated.

ITS Initiatives - New Services and Directions

Hello all, and welcome back to a new academic year.

ITS has completed a number of important initiatives to improve IT services at MHC. Below find a brief explanation of some of the ones that may affect you in your work. As always, for more information about IT Services at MHC feel free to contact me. To report technology problems or for assistance, please contact the IT Support Centre by phone, 403-529-3899, email callcentre@mhc.ab.ca, or in person at the IT services help desk, room B 222A.

Chuck Payne

Director, Information Technology

Medicine Hat College

403 529-3870

payne@mhc.ab.ca

Wireless Services

MHC-WiFi Wireless Network

We have moved to authenticated access to the MHC-WiFi network. This means you need to enter your MHC username and password to log onto the system. This should reduce the number of devices that automatically connect to the network, better providing enough ‘leases’ (IP addresses) and enough bandwidth for students and employees.

 For the security of your personal information:

• Read the terms of use on the log-in page, and if you agree to the terms, enter your username and password at the bottom of the page.
• Only connect to the network named MHC-WiFi on campus at MHC. You may at times see other networks that you can connect to. These would most often be ‘rogue’ networks set up by some thoughtful, lovely person to try and get access to your personal information.
• Be wary whenever you use Internet services.

 More Locations

• Wireless access will be available in instructor’s offices in the E, L, S and 3rd floor B-wings soon into this academic year.
• We are exploring the possibility of placing an access point in the H building
• An outside access point will be added to the south side of the T-wing for access around the ‘Tea House’ garden area
• Later during the year, expansion will continue in order to provide more access in heavily used areas (e.g. The Crave, Soft Seat Area)

80% or more of the Medicine Hat Campus main building area will have Wi-Fi access in the coming months.

Content Filtering Removal

Expansion of the MHC wireless services should allow the wireless network to better serve as a research and instructional network. As this network is separated from the ‘wired’ network, isolating it from MHC business systems that house private employee and student information, there is a reduced risk of a hacker or a malware infected computer using the Wi-Fi network to compromise the security of MHC systems.

The Websense Content filtering system will be turned off on the MHC-WiFi network.

 Benefits

•   Students and faculty will be able to use this network to access websites that are blocked by Websense on the wired network. 

Risks

• There is a greater risk that users will be exposed to offensive content or infected websites. Hence the "terms of use" disclaimer posted on the MHC-WiFi log-in page.
• There is a risk that individual users on this network could consume large amounts of bandwidth slowing down access across the network. We are putting bandwidth restrictions in place on the wireless network to try and avoid this problem.

Classroom Equipment Expansion

Nearly all classroom spaces have at least an Internet connected computer and a projector, the final few classrooms without any technology will be outfitted in the coming months.

• For the last year or so, we have put an "Extron" panel in newly equipped rooms. This is a convenient, easy to use, wall mounted push-button panel to select the technology (projector, input) to be used in the room.
• In the most recently completed rooms (about 11 so far) we have put in a video cable direct to the projector so that anyone coming into the room with a computer can use the projector to display their computer (i.e. no need to log in to the network to access the projector). We can provide this ‘direct to projector’ VGA cable in other rooms and would appreciate requests to allow us to prioritize where we include this connectivity. 

SharePoint

• We are in the midst of a project to replace our old SharePoint server named ‘Winky’ with a new server named ‘Source’. 
• Further information will come in the next few weeks explaining the process of moving contents from the old SharePoint system to the new, and setting a date for taking the old system offline.
• Unfortunately it is not possible in Sharepoint to migrate the data directly from the old to new server without the purchase of expensive management tools. We encourage departments to move only what they need to the new site. This is an opportunity to weed unneeded content.
• ITS staff will be available to assist and answer questions.

Blackboard

• Our new Blackboard analyst along with the ETS team is developing a service that will automatically enrol students in Blackboard courses.
• A few instructors have been trialing the process.
• Based on feedback and our ability to make progress, we will be advertising this service broadly in future terms.
• We are working towards an online form where instructors would request new Blackboard course sites, the copying of current sites, and could request automatic enrolments into Blackboard for some or all of their courses.
• At present, all such processes are manual. 

Web VPN Service

Accessing College Services and Data From Off Campus

Last year we put in place a web based VPN service (virtual private network). MHC employees can log in to the service and access network storage locations and key applications needed in their work.

• This service also provides access to each employee’s storage location on the network (The ‘P’ drive, explained below).
• Based on your job role, the VPN will provide access to information and various applications from offsite, including accessing your monthly payroll information, the Course Outline Manager, CampusVue SIS information, course folders and shared departmental folders.
• If logged in on campus,  go here to SharePoint for instructions on accessing the VPN, or feel free to contact the Support Centre for assistance.

P Drive

Network Storage for Your College Files

  

It has been about a year since we have provided an individual network storage location for all employees at MHC, labelled the ‘P’ for ‘personal’ drive. For many employees, this area will provide advantages over storing files on their local office computer:

•  This folder is backed up regularly to our network storage array, greatly reducing the chance that you will lose files if your computer ‘crashes’.
• This folder is accessible from any computer with an Internet connection by logging in to the college’s web VPN service.
• Instructions on accessing the P drive can be found on this ITS blog:
  http://mhcit.blogspot.com/p/faq-and-instructions.html 

MHC Wireless Services

The college is moving to an authenticated wireless network service where students and employees will need to use their college username and password to log on.  This service will provide a greater number of more reliable connections than our current open service.

We need to run some tests, to trial the system.  These tests will start today and will continue over the next few days as we hope to get if fully operational for the first day of classes.

In the next few days you will experience a disruption of the wireless service, and can expect:

-  The current MHC-Public wireless network will disappear and devices will be disconnected

-A new network called MHC-WiFi will be available. To use this network you will need to use your college username and password

- To connect to the network, select MHC-WiFi from your computer or mobile device

- Once connected open up your web browser

- You will be directed to a page indicating the terms of use in accessing the network. Please read this and scroll to the bottom of the page

- If you accept the conditions, you enter your username and password

- For this system, the username and password is the one used to connect to MHC computers and networks in labs and offices

- Click the green coloured Submit button

More detailed information will be sent out in the coming days as the kinks are worked out of the system and we bring it permanently online.

MHC Technology Plan - Final Aproval

The MHC Technology Plan 2011-2014 will be taken to President's Council for approval in September. The draft to be presented is available here:

Technology Plan 2011-2014

We should be budgeting and directing our overall activity based on this plan from September on.

Useful IT Security Information

A security newsletter I subscribe to recently referred to a fact sheet titled "Best Practices for Securing Your Home Network" that goes beyond home networks and wireless to cover email and traveling with mobile devices and more.  It is one of the best overviews  I have read for some time. It can be found at:

http://www.nsa.gov/ia/_files/factsheets/Best_Practices_Datasheets.pdf

So, you want a special piece of equipment eh?

ITS is working to develop an IT Famework, essentially a set of policies to direct our operations. The advantage of having policy is that, if crafted well, they provide clear direction and a fair and equitable means to guide decisions; they set the rules. Policy is ever changing; legislative requirements, processes, and standards pass quickly and we need to adapt. We also may find that policy is not working well for its intended purpose, and need to change it for that reason.

For the last year or so we have used a process in the ITAPP Policy to vet special requests for computer equipment, requests that are outside of the usual allocation of equipment as stipulated in the college’s Computer Allocation Policy. This process is proving to be cumbersome and ineffective. The ITAPP policy is essentially a security, access, and bandwidth management policy that is not well suited to deciding on day to day, operational uses of technology. With this experience in mind, and with the direction of the ITAPP committee, we will bring forth to President’s Council changes to the ITAPP and the Computer Allocation policies to have special requests for computer equipment brought through the budget process. The budget process is well established, and is used to decide on practically all other significant equipment requests at MHC.
 
Relevant sections of the revised Computer Allocation Policy have been drafted (not yet authorized) as follows:

7) MHC employees will be provided with access to a computer based on the software requirement, teaching environment, and industry standard.  In practice, this means that all MHC employees will be provided a MS Windows computer except in the following circumstances and assuming approval of the exception by the college through supervisory and budget processes:

-          If software required for the job role can only be sourced  for another computing environment,  access to that computing environment may be provided.

 -          Instructional staff instructing MHC students in a non MS Windows computer lab will be provided with a computer compatible with, or the same as, the lab computers, if it is their preference.

-          Instructional staff instructing MHC students in the use of a software product that is only available on a non MS Windows computing environment will be provided with a computer that runs the software product, if it is their preference.

-          Instructional staff who are teaching in a field of study or industry in which the use of a particular computing environment is predominant or a standard will be provided with a computer compatible with, or the same as, that particular computing environment, if it is their preference.

-          Information technology support staff and educational technology support staff will be provided with appropriate access to whatever type of computer systems are needed for their job role.

Exceptions

Requests for computer systems and configurations that fall outside of the allowance of this policy must be based on the job related need of the employee(s) and take into consideration implications for support costs and support capability at the college, as well as purchasing cost.
 

Process for Authorizing of Exceptions

The allocation of computer systems and configurations beyond the parameters of this policy will be determined through the MHC budget process, and requires:

·         the approval of the Budget Centre Manager and,

·         the approval of the responsible Vice President and,

·         and approval of the Budget Committee

Requests detailing the type of computer equipment requested, the cost, and the justification for the purchase are brought forth in the annual budget process by the budget centre managers.

Using the MHC Network to Store Your Work Material

Did you know that all MHC employees have a personal storage space on the MHC network?

For most MHC employees the use of your own storage area on the MHC network could replace the need to store important files to the hard disk on your desktop computer. This networked storage area, labelled the 'P' drive (P for personal)  is secure space, backed-up regularly, and is accessible from anywhere you have an Internet connection through MHC's new web based VPN service.

For most users who are not storing large graphics or videos files, this location could be used to store all of your electronic work material, and is easily accessible from any computer with an Internet connection.

See the link below for information on how to use your network storage location, and contact MHC's IT Support Centre anytime for more information.


http://mhcit.blogspot.com/p/faq-and-instructions.html

Spring and Summer - Preparing for Another Academic Year

June and July are busy months in ITS. With fewer students on campus in spring and summer, ITS can get into labs and other areas of campus more freely in order to work and deploy equipment.

This year, as all years, we will roll out new computers to labs, and re-image all the lab machines for the software mix to be used in the next year. There are also a number of infrastructure projects, relating to networking, server equipment, and upgrades, that are best done at this time of year. We roll out new staff and faculty machines throughout the year.

Some years ago we initiated a 4 year rotation cycle for all computers on campus. We try to keep all computers on campus under a four year warranty, once they are beyond that age we replace them with new computers. With about 1200 machines on campus, this means purchasing and preparing about 300 machines each year (although this number varies considerably depending on the particular labs to be replaced). In the upcoming 11-12 academic year computers purchased and deployed in the 07-08 academic year will be replaced. So, if your computer is of that vintage, and you do not hear from ITS prior to Christmas 2012 about a replacement, contact the Support Centre and we will check to ensure that we replace your machine on this schedule.

Budgeting for computer replacements is done centrally. To get an estimate of the cost to replace the computers and the mix of software annually we assign an average cost per individual computer replacement multiplied by 300. We have a computer allocation policy that indicates how we handle requests for computer equipment that fall outside of this replacement cycle.  Employees working internal to the college may click below to view this policy on Share Point.

Computer Allocation Policy

New Draft - MHC Technology Plan

The MHC Technology Plan was brought to Presidents Council on May 24. The council will provide feedback and further scrutiny.  If all remains on schedule, the plan should be authorized in Early Autumn 2011. We are already working on some of the goals in the plan, with the assumption that at this point only details will change, and the two core focus areas of the plan will remain.

A Culture Shift:  IT for Better Teaching and Increased Efficiency

Much of the plan builds around two core focus areas:

1. Integrated Planning
2. Specialized Training and Support Services

The need to plan and provide IT related services in a more integrated manner across the College is an underlying theme, directly stated and implied in a number of the goals.

Improving Teaching and Learning

• Encouraging opportunities and providing support for faculty to use IT tools.

• A shift in the culture of information technology use towards the use of IT in pedagogical practice directed strongly by faculty towards the service of learners. 

The latest draft of the plan can be found here.