We have been advised that there is a phone call scam that could lead to malware & financial loss.  The scenario involves an actor, claiming to work for a well-known software, technology or research company, cold calls victims in an attempt to convince them that their computer is at risk of an attack or infected with viruses, and that only they can resolve the problem.  Those who comply are very likely to have their computers compromised and may also experience financial loss.

As always, do not provide any confidential information to anyone contacting you via email or over the phone.  If you receive such a call, please contact the ITS Help Desk at 740.587.6395.

On Friday, November 1st, there will be wireless maintenance that will cause intermittent wireless outages throughout campus. This will occur from 5:00AM to 7:00AM.

On Thursday, October 31st, there will be wireless maintenance that will cause intermittent wireless outages throughout campus. This will occur from 5:00AM to 7:00AM.

On Thursday, October 24th, there will be wireless maintenance that will cause intermittent wireless outages throughout campus. This will occur from 5:00AM to 7:00AM.

Update:  As of 00:30 on 9/3, our provider has put in a work-around to address this issue while troubleshooting continues. Service speeds should be normal again.

Original Post:

Denison’s Internet provider, Oarnet, is experiencing difficulties which has resulted in extremely slow connection time for some of our services, including Blackboard.

We have been experiencing slowness with our Blackboard learning management system over the past few days.  We are working with the site that hosts our Blackboard instance to resolve this problem.  We apologize for the inconvenience this is causing you.

The host site of our Blackboard servers, the University of Cincinnati, is currently experiencing a campus-wide power outage.  They are investigating the cause and hope to have an update by noon today.

In the meantime, Blackboard in inaccessible.

All services were restored Friday afternoon.

As you may be aware, the Department of Homeland Security issued a warning about the software plugin Java.  Attackers are using Java tools to take control of computer systems.

Java is a programming “add-on” that allows your local computer to do things so that the system you are using/visiting doesn’t have to do those things for you. This makes some web experiences run faster and look “smoother” than if all that traffic had to go back and forth between your computer and the web site. Unfortunately, Java has a long history of vulnerabilities and flaws.

Homeland Security recommended removing the installed Java tools completely, but this is often not possible or practical. For example, here at Denison, folks that access our Banner and Blackboard systems must have Java installed and enabled to use the system.

If you have a university owned and managed computer, we do not recommend that you update Java yourself. There are known compatibility issues with Java and the products that use it, including Banner and Blackboard. The ITS staff will automatically provide updates, including security updates, as they are tested and verified. If you upgrade manually, you may encounter problems with software applications. ITS support for university owned computers includes both Windows and Mac systems.

As of 8:30 a.m., the network is operational and most systems and services have been successfully brought online, including MyDenison and Denison Self-Serve.