Congratulations to IT Services Rich Musal on his Distinguished Lasallian Administrator Award

We are so proud the efforts of Rich Musal, Director of Client Services and Operations, have been recognized.  Rich exemplifies with distinction the Lasallian Hallmarks that inspire the Mission of Manhattan College.  

Nominated and selected by his colleagues, Rich was awarded this year's Distinguished Lasallian Administrator at the Nov. 27 Administrator/Staff Convocation.

The principles of this award exemplify individuals among us who: 

• are committed to excellence in the fulfillment of their responsibilities
• demonstrate the utmost of respect for the dignity of others
• manifest their faith in God through their actions and relationships
• make evident that integrity and trustworthiness matter
• seek to make right things that are harmful to others



Rich Musal, (center) with President O'Donnell (far left) on the altar in the Chapel of De La Salle and His Brothers

The new Gmail is here with several new features

New features on the latest revision of Gmail

Gmail, got a much-awaited design refresh. However, design is not the only thing new in the "new" Gmail; a ton of functionality has been added to both the web as well as the mobile interface. These include several Artificial Intelligence-based features including Smart Reply, email snoozing, and nudging recipients to respond. 

Let's have a look at some of the features in detail.

1. Quickly take action on your messages

Organize emails from your inbox

• Archive 
• Delete 
• Mark as unread  or read 
• Snooze 

Snooze emails until later

Postpone emails to a future date or time that's more convenient for you. Learn how to snooze emails.

Respond to emails with Smart Reply suggestions

2. Customize your inbox view

Expand or shrink your inbox

Change how spacious or compact you want your inbox view. 

In the top right, click Settings  Display density.

Show or hide the menu

To make room for previewing your email, you can expand or shrink your inbox view by clicking Menu .

View Calendar, Tasks, Keep & Add-ons

On the right of your inbox, click these icons:

• Calendar : View your daily schedule, click events to edit them, create new events, and jump to upcoming events.
• Keep : Create checklists and take notes.
• Tasks : Add to-do's and deadlines.
• Add-ons : Get extra Gmail tools to help manage your mail.

Learn how to use Calendar, Keep, Tasks, and Add-ons with Gmail.

For further details please review Learn what's new in Gmail

Partially reposted from: Learn what's new in Gmail

Tips and Techniques Aimed at Improving Video Conferences

ITS has created resources aimed at improving Video Conference experiences or Google (Hangouts) Meet.

Review video and Knowledge Base Articles which outline Tips and Techniques to use for better video conferences:

Troubleshooting Video Conferences
Best Practices for Video Conferences

partially reposted from:  A Video Conference Call in Real Life:  

Half of all Phishing Sites Now Have the Padlock

Many information security tip guides include a "look for the padlock" to find legitimate websites. We now live in a world where half of all phishing websites have the padlock in the browser's location bar! This is according to a Brian Krebs report that references to new PhishLabs data.

There has always been confusion over what the padlock means. It never meant that the website was legitimate. It meant that the owner paid money to a Certificate Authority to validate a keypair such that certain traffic is encrypted between a computer and the website. Over the past few years, the cost of this validation process has decreased greatly.

The following quote is from the Krebs article and summarizes the meaning of the padlock.

"The presence of the padlock does not mean the site is legitimate, nor is it any proof the site has been security-hardened against intrusion from hackers."

Be very careful with links you receive. Cyber Monday is a great chance for malicious people to trick you.

Get Started with Hangouts Chat: A Messaging Platform Built for Teams

Hangouts Chat

A messaging platform built for teams

• Hangouts Chat makes it easy for teams to be able to get their work done in one place. From direct messages to group conversations, Chat helps teams collaborate easily and efficiently. With dedicated, virtual rooms to house projects over time — plus threaded conversations — Chat makes it simple to track progress and follow up tasks. Chat currently supports 28 languages and each room can support up to 8,000 members.

Hangouts Chat is Deeply Integrated with G Suite:

Easily upload items from Drive, Collaborate on Docs, Sheets or Slides, join online meetings with Hangouts Meet.

Get started right away with Hangouts Chat. 

For more information please visit @ Hangouts Chat.

Partially reposted from @ Hangouts Chat.

Emergency Maintenance Friday November 23 7am-1pm

ITS will be performing emergency maintenance on critical network equipment Friday November 23 from 7am to 1pm.

There will be sporadic outages during this time.

RESOLVED Authentication Outage

RESOLVED: ITS was able to find the cause and correct the issue.

Information Technology Service has been made aware of an authentication issue on campus. ITS is currently investigating the cause of this issue.

We  apologize for this inconvenience.

Holiday Scams and Malware Campaigns

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As the holidays approach, The National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center, (NCCIC) reminds users to be aware of seasonal scams and malware campaigns. Users should be cautious of unsolicited emails that contain malicious links or attachments with malware, advertisements infected with malware, and requests for donations from fraudulent charitable organizations, which could result in security breaches, identify theft, or financial loss.

NCCIC recommends the following actions:

• Use caution when browsing the internet, shopping online, and using email.
• Avoid clicking on links or opening attachments in unsolicited emails. See Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Attacks for more information.
• Be wary of fraudulent social media pleas, calls, texts, websites, and door-to-door solicitations for donations to charities. See How to Donate Wisely and Avoid Charity Scams for more information.

If you believe you are a victim of a scam or malware campaign, consider the following actions:

• Contact your financial institution immediately, and close any accounts that may have been compromised. Watch for any unexplainable charges to your account. See Preventing and Responding to Identity Theft for more information.
• Immediately change any passwords you might have revealed. Avoid reusing passwords. See Choosing and Protecting Passwords for more information.
• Report the attack to the police, and file reports with the Federal Trade Commission and the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Partially reposted from: US-CERT (Computer Emergency Readiness Team) Holiday Scams and Malware Campaigns

ITS Customer Satisfaction Survey

Please take a moment to fill out the semesterly ITS Customer Satisfaction Survey.  Please try to think only of your experience with ITS for the Fall 2018 semester. Here is a link to the customer satisfaction survey.

Thank you for your feedback.

Microsoft Office 365 Outage

Microsoft Office 365 is experiencing an outage for all users with multi-factor authorization. Check the Microsoft Office 365 status web page for updates.

The current status report as of this blog's publication.

Today, Life IS a game!

Our IT friends at Texas A&M University have shared an online game, "Aggie LIFE," to enhance cybersecurity skills on campus.  Their Division of Information Technology creates an online game each October in recognition of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. 

This year's game, tested players' knowledge on phishing, online shopping, identity theft and more.

Partially reposted from Thousands Test Cybersecurity Skills with Aggie LIFE

Invite people to an ongoing Hangouts Meet meeting

Google is adding a new way to invite people to an ongoing meeting directly within Hangouts Meet. When you’re in a Meet meeting, you’ll now see an option to “Add people” at the top of the participant list.

Add people directly from the call

Clicking on this option will open a dialog box to send them an email invite to join as a full participant or call them into the meeting by phone.

To invite someone into your meeting, simply input their email address or lookup by name from the company directory.The invited participant will receive an email with instructions to join your meeting.

Enter the person's name, email address, or phone number

As always, inviting someone using their phone number will immediately call the phone number to to add them to the meeting. They will join as an audio only participant and will not see any video or the screenshare.

For more information on inviting people to Meet meetings, check out the Help Center.

Manhattan College has video conferencing set up with Google Hangouts Meet in the following rooms:
De La Salle Hall:    Room 209
Memorial Hall:       Charter Room

Please consult 25Live to book these rooms for your video conference.

Note you don't have to be in these rooms to hold or participate in a video meeting. You can initiate or participate in a video meeting  from your desktop/laptop/mobile device meet app.(Hangouts Meet.)



More Information:
Help Center: Invite people, Best Practices for Video Conferences, Google Hangouts

Partially reposted from:  Invite people to an ongoing Hangouts Meet meeting

CANCELLED: MCS, ProDev, and LMSCourseDev Moodle Maintenance - Saturday 11/17 8AM

11/16 3:30pm Update: This maintenance will be on hold until the new features are tested further. New date will be announced soon.

Cancelled: MCS, ProDev, and LMSCourseDev Moodle systems will be OFFLINE for system maintenance starting at 8AM on Saturday 11/17 to apply system updates. We anticipate that the maintenance will be completed between 8AM-10AM during which time only these Moodle systems will be unavailable. 

The main Moodle system (lms.manhattan.edu) will not be affected.

Tips for Shopping Safely Online - Even on Black Friday!

Tips for Shopping Safely Online

In 2016, for the first time ever, shoppers bought more online than in stores. All Internet-connected devices are vulnerable, especially when being used for purchases. You need to be aware of ways to protect yourself as you shop online.

The holiday season is the perfect time for cybercriminals to take advantage of unsuspecting online shoppers. When you go to the grocery store or local shop, it's habit to grab your reusable bags, lock the car, and make sure you've safely put away your credit card or cash before heading home with the day's purchases. Similar precautions need to be taken when you're shopping online from the comfort of your own home. If you make these simple precautions regular online shopping habits, you'll be protecting your purchases and personal information.

The National Cyber Security Alliance recommends following these basic steps so you'll be ready to cybershop safely and securely.

• Lock down your login. One of the most critical things you can do in preparation for the online shopping season is to fortify your online accounts by enabling the strongest authentication tools available, such as biometrics, security keys or a unique one-time code through an app on your mobile device, lastpass.com is a recommended site.  Your usernames and passwords are not enough to protect key accounts like e-mail, banking, and social media.
• Keep clean machines. Before searching for that perfect gift, be sure that all web-connected devices—including PCs, mobile phones, smartphones, and tablets—are free from malware and infections by running only the most current versions of software and apps. Please review this Manhattan College Knowledge Base Article:  Basic Malware Removal.
• Shop reliable websites online. Use the sites of retailers you trust. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!
• Conduct research. When using a new website for your holiday purchases, read reviews and see if other customers have had a positive or negative experience with the site.
• Personal information is like money: value it and protect it. When making a purchase online, be alert to the kinds of information being collected to complete the transaction. Make sure you think it is necessary for the vendor to request that information. Remember that you only need to fill out required fields at checkout.
• Get savvy about Wi-Fi hotspots. If you are out and about, limit the type of business you conduct over open public Wi-Fi connections, including logging in to key accounts, such as e-mail and banking. Adjust the security settings on your device to limit who can access your phone. 
• Check the address bar. Look for the green lock icon and https:// in the URL before using your credit card online.
• Manhattan College has the following information available for additional support on personally owned devices:  Resources for Personal Devices

Partially re posted from: November 2018: Shop Safe Online, Even on Black Friday!

Phishing Infographics

Let's all review the following phishing infographics and share them. The holiday season is a good time to discuss information security with family & friends.

The above infographic is from Wombat Security.

The above infographic is from Rapid7.

The first infographic shows a flow chart of the decision process that we should all do our best to follow.  The second scrutinizes an email, which we should consider. Remember that phishing attacks can also use SMS, social media, etc.

Electrical Maintenance Leo Hall November 13th/14th from 6am-8am

There will be some electrical maintenance being conducted in Leo Hall 3rd Floor on Tuesday November 13th and Wednesday, November 14th, from 6am-8am.

This maintenance will shut power off to the networking equipment that services both the wired and wireless networks on the 3rd floor of Leo Hall. No other floors should be impacted by this maintenance.

We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause.

Manhattan College enhances student and faculty support with Google Cloud

Check out the below video where ITS Leadership discusses how Manhattan College ITS utilizes the Google Cloud platform.

Featuring:
Jake Holmquist, CIO
Cindy Duggan, Director of Web Applications
Robert Moran, Director of Enterprise Architecture

RESOLVED: Banner: Slow Response Time

Dear Manhattan College Community,

UPDATE: The root cause was isolated to the BANNER Admin Pages.  Once a "restart" was conducted on the Banner Admin Pages, the system's response time was back to normal.
Thanks for your patience.

Information Technology Services



Information Technology Services has received several reports regarding slow network response time.  The ITS Network Team is in the process of identifying the cause and will update the community once the issue is resolved.

Thank you for your patience.

Information Technology Services

Campus Wireless Upgrade

We, here at Manhattan College IT Services Department, strive to meet the growing demand for wireless accessibility. We do our best to be at the forefront of technology throughout campus. Our goal is to provide students, faculty, and staff with the best tools to facilitate learning. This includes updated computer labs, learning classrooms, and wireless throughout all buildings, both academic and dorm rooms. One way we are meeting this goal is to deploy a robust wireless network providing enough reliability and stability throughout campus.

The Networking Department within ITS will be working diligently to upgrade all wireless access points across campus starting the week of November 12th. We will complete this work with as little down time as possible, but please be patient as some down time may be inevitable. The upgrade process will be completed in the following order. Please note, this may be subject to change based off of building, classroom, and office availability:

• Hayden Hall - Complete
• Thomas Hall - Complete
• Alumni Hall - Complete
• Leo Engineering Building - Complete
• Research and Learning Center - Complete
• De La Salle Hall - Complete
• Memorial Hall - Complete
• Miguel Hall - Complete
• Smith Hall - Complete
• O'Malley Library - In Progress
• Kelly Student Commons - Complete
• Gaelic Park Athletic Center (former Mahan) - Complete

We will be working closely with Resident Life to upgrade the wireless access points in the dorms. Most of the access points are located in students' rooms, so in order to upgrade, we will need access to these rooms. Work in the dorms will commence during winter break according to the following tentative schedule:

• Overlook Manor - Complete
• Jasper Hall - Complete
• Horan Hall - In Progress
• Chrysostom Hall - Complete
• Lee Hall

With the cooperation of the Manhattan College community, IT Services hopes to meet our goal of making seamless wireless connectivity the goal throughout campus.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact ITS at its@manhattan.edu or at extension x-7973.

-Network Engineer, ITS

IT Staff from St. Olaf College and Carleton College welcomed at Manhattan College

Left to right: R. Musal, A. Robinson, G. Quaglieni, K. Strode, J. Moberg, H. Malecha, A. McCarthy
IT Staff from St. Olaf College and Carleton College welcomed at Manhattan College 

Manhattan College IT Services Client Services & Operations team hosted IT staff from St. Olaf College and Carleton College in Minnesota. These two colleges are considering choosing TeamDynamix (TDX) service management system to manage their Helpdesk.

The IT staff from the two colleges made a trip out East to learn best practices of how Manhattan College utilizes TDX. As an early adopter of TeamDynamix and a success story for the seamless implementation and deployment of TDX, Manhattan College IT Services serves as a resource for other colleges and universities implementing this system.

Manhattan College ITS has been using TDX since 2013 to successfully manage our IT supports services to meet client requests across campus.  The ITS Helpdesk is able to leverage TDX to handle 9,000+ tickets per year.

ITS Ticketing System Upgrade Saturday November 3rd 2018

The ITS Ticketing System used to manage all service requests will be inaccessible on Saturday November 3rd, 2018.  ITS is closed on weekends so we do not believe this will impact service.  As per usual, requests that come in over the weekend will be attended to Monday November 5th, 2018.