On Monday 3/27/17 at 4:30PM, ITS released a command that will check for Apple Software Updates and prompt you to apply them to your computer either now or later. The screen is titled “Management Action” and the dropdown list above the “Submit” button allows you to “Start Now” or select a time interval to delay the updates to a more convenient time if you are in the middle of something and do not want to risk having to restart your computer. While the behavior will vary according to the updates pending for your computer, it likely will take 5-20 minutes for updates to install. If your computer needs to restart, you will receive a notification before the computer restarts giving you a 5-minute warning when the restart will take place.

Mac Update Prompt

ITS strongly encourages you to accept the prompt to update as soon as possible. If updates are not applied by Monday 4/10/17 at 4:30 pm, it will automatically install and restart your computer if the updates require it.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the ITS Help Desk at 740-587-6395 or helpdesk@denison.edu.

If you receive an error message when clicking a shortcut/favorite/bookmark to access any service that uses the Denison BigRedID login page (like MyDenison, Denison Apps, Blackboard, etc.), please double-check your shortcut/favorite/bookmark to make sure it has the correct URL as listed below.

MyDenison: https://my.denison.edu
Denison Apps: https://apps.denison.edu
Blackboard: https://courses.denison.edu
Notebowl: https://notebowl.denison.edu

In most browsers, you can right-click on your favorite/bookmark and choose “Edit” or “Properties” to view and edit the target URL.

EXPLANATION: Often when you go to a service and then create a bookmark, it bookmarks a long URL that has session or other specific information that may change over time, particularly when services are upgraded. It is best to edit or manually create a shortcut/bookmark to use a published URL for the service as with those above.

On Friday 2/17, Denison faculty and staff were sent a personalized CyberSecurity Awareness Training invitation from “do-not-reply@knowbe4.com”. This is a legitimate email and contains a link to training modules that will help you protect the college and yourself by better understanding common threats, phishing techniques, and safe technology practices. Click the personalized link in the email and then click the ‘Start Course’ button on your training page to begin your training. Please complete the training modules by 3/10/2017 5:00 PM.

IMPORTANT: It is important to close your course browser window to record course completion, or if you need to pause the training for an extended period of time. You will be allowed to resume your training when you log in again.

See this article from Pittsburgh Action 4 News for the many ways – including fake job offers – that hackers are trying to lure students, faculty, and staff into revealing their login and other personal information:

http://www.wtae.com/article/college-students-are-the-latest-targets-of-aggressive-phishing-scams/8730682

To learn more about detecting phishing emails, please see the quick & helpful 2-minute training video available through Atomic Learning about “Avoiding Phishing Scams” (https://www.atomiclearning.com/highed/almovie?sid=1596&cn=denison&key=25072).

To report a message as a phishing attempt within the Denison Apps Gmail web interface, within the message click the down arrow beside the Reply button and select “Report Phishing“.

If you have any questions about phishing, please contact the ITS Help Desk at helpdesk@denison.edu or 740-587-6395.

The email with a title of “Help Desk Incident #” followed by a number that appears to be from an “@louisiana.edu” address is a scam.

If you are using Denison Apps Mail:

Open the message and click the down arrow beside the Reply button and select “Report phishing” in the menu that appears. (Note: if “Report phishing” does not appear as an option and “Report not phishing” appears instead then the message is already flagged as phishing.)

This reports the phishing attack to Google and improves the identification and blocking of future phishing attacks. After you report it, please delete the message.

NOTE: this option is only available in the web (Gmail) interface for Denison Apps. It is not available if you are using Thunderbird, Apple Mail, or another client to access your Denison Apps email.

Please DO NOT RESPOND to or click links in this or any emails that request computer account or other personal information. They are an attempt to steal, at minimum, your email or other computer account, at maximum, your identity.

If you replied to it in any fashion, please visit the ITS Help Desk Online FAQ about what to do if you suspect your account may be compromised and follow all the steps listed:

http://apps.denison.edu/helpdesk/faq3422

Please contact the ITS Help Desk at helpdesk@denison.edu or 740-587-6395 if you have any questions or concerns.

The email that appears to be from Diane Getsinger <getsinger5diane776@outlook.com> with a subject of “FWD” and your BigRedID is a scam. DO NOT OPEN  THE WORD DOCUMENT ATTACHMENT. Word documents are able to spread malicious software, including the cryptolocker “ransomware” that hackers use to extort money by encrypting your files. If you clicked on the Word document, disconnect your computer from the network and shut down immediately.

If you are using Denison Apps Mail:

Open the message and click the down arrow beside the Reply button and select “Report phishing” in the menu that appears. (Note: if “Report phishing” does not appear as an option and “Report not phishing” appears instead then the message is already flagged as phishing.)

This reports the phishing attack to Google and improves the identification and blocking of future phishing attacks. After you report it, please delete the message.

NOTE: this option is only available in the web (Gmail) interface for Denison Apps. It is not available if you are using Thunderbird, Apple Mail, or another client to access your Denison Apps email.

Please DO NOT RESPOND to or click links in this or any emails that request computer account or other personal information. They are an attempt to steal, at minimum, your email or other computer account, at maximum, your identity.

If you replied to it in any fashion, please visit the ITS Help Desk Online FAQ about what to do if you suspect your account may be compromised and follow all the steps listed:

http://apps.denison.edu/helpdesk/faq3422

Please contact the ITS Help Desk at helpdesk@denison.edu or 740-587-6395 if you have any questions or concerns.

Update 12/13/16 10:20AM

The Notebowl team has identified and corrected the source of the problem and Notebowl is now functioning normally. Please contact the ITS Help Desk at 740-587-6395 or helpdesk@denison.edu if you continue to experience problems.

Original Post

ITS has confirmed an issue with Notebowl generating the following error after you log in or when trying to open a link:

“The server encountered an error while processing your request. If this problem persists, please contact your system administrator.”

Investigation into the cause of the problem is underway and updates will be posted here as soon as more information is available.

The email with no subject that appears to be from “abuse@denison.edu” is a scam.

If you are using Denison Apps Mail:

Open the message and click the down arrow beside the Reply button and select “Report phishing” in the menu that appears. (Note: if “Report phishing” does not appear as an option and “Report not phishing” appears instead then the message is already flagged as phishing.)

This reports the phishing attack to Google and improves the identification and blocking of future phishing attacks. After you report it, please delete the message.

NOTE: this option is only available in the web (Gmail) interface for Denison Apps. It is not available if you are using Thunderbird, Apple Mail, or another client to access your Denison Apps email.

Please DO NOT RESPOND to or click links in this or any emails that request computer account or other personal information. They are an attempt to steal, at minimum, your email or other computer account, at maximum, your identity.

If you replied to it in any fashion, please visit the ITS Help Desk Online FAQ about what to do if you suspect your account may be compromised and follow all the steps listed:

http://apps.denison.edu/helpdesk/faq3422

Please contact the ITS Help Desk at helpdesk@denison.edu or 740-587-6395 if you have any questions or concerns.