Sophisticated email phishing attempts are being conducted in an effort to compromise University accounts.  These emails may contain content such as a request to reactivate your account, an unexpected invoice for a service, or a notice of a false court hearing.  Please use caution when opening any email attachments or clicking any links within suspicious emails.

Information Technology Services (ITS) will never ask you for your username and password via email or over the phone.

If you receive an email message that has a suspicious link or attachment, or asks you for account details such as your username and password, you can report the message to ITS staff via email at abuse@memphis.edu or over the phone by calling the ITS Service Desk at (901) 678-8888.  If you mistakenly opened an attachment or provided your account details via email or to a non-UofM website, please contact the ITS Service Desk for further assistance.

Additional information regarding keeping your University account safe can be found at http://www.memphis.edu/its/security/.

ITS is once again offering a training session in Information Security on February 8th, 2015, from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m in UC 261. We encourage all faculty and staff, especially those with administrative roles, to attend this session to learn more about what you can do to help protect the University’s systems and resources.

Registration for the Information Security session is via the Learning Curve website at http://learningcurve.memphis.edu.

Steps to register:

• Visit the site and click “ Manage your training”
• Login with your user name and password
• Under Registration on left menu, click “class schedule/registration”
• Select “View All” in the category dropdown box
• Scroll down to the Information Security session and click “Register”

Please report any problems registering to the ITS Service Desk at extension 8888.

On Tuesday, January 26th, 2016, a number of UofM users received a message purporting to be from the Adobe Creative Cloud service with a Subject: line of “Adobe Invoice”. The message contained an attachment called “invoice.doc”, that when opened, would attempt to connect to a remote server and install malicious software on the recipient’s computer.

The remote server has since been taken offline and ITS staff are working with units who may have had computers that were impacted by the malicious attachment. If you received one of the “Adobe Invoice” emails with the invoice.doc attachment, please delete the email message and do not attempt to open the attachment.

If you opened the attachment, please contact the ITS Service Desk by phone at (901) 678-8888 or via email at umtech@memphis.edu  or your LSP for further assistance.

For more information about IT security, please visit the ITS security website.

Technology Recall:

Microsoft has issued a voluntary recall for Surface Pro, Surface Pro 2, and some Surface Pro 3 devices. To check if your device is eligible, visit the Microsoft AC Power Cord Recall website.

For a personal device, Microsoft will ask that you sign in or create an account for communication about the recall process. Note: This is not your University of Memphis account information.

For a University-owned device, contact the IT Service Desk (email: umtech@memphis.edu phone: 901-678-8888) or AskTom Chat. Your LSP will assist with the recall process.

Important Announcement: Change in Password Reset Process

In an effort to enhance security of passwords and protect University data, ITS will implement a change in its Password Reset service. Effective immediately, the ITS Service Desk (Tier 1) will no longer, administratively, change passwords.  All UofM affiliates (faculty, staff, students, alumni, former students, etc.) will be encouraged to visit the University’s self-service Identity Management website located at https://iam.memphis.edu.  Here, you can initialize your account, reset your password, retrieve your UUID and answer your security questions to regain access to your account.

In addition, remember these important tips to ensure your data is secure:

• Never share your password with anyone. This includes a UofM employee, friend or relative.
• Beware of phishing emails that attempt to lure you to malicious websites.
• Watch for email notifications about your password changing. If you did not change your password, please contact the Service Desk immediately.
• Never respond to an email request for your username and password, or any other request to “verify” your account.

For more information about IT security, please visit the ITS security website located at

http://www.memphis.edu/its/security/index.php.

ASKTOM UPGRADE

Information Technology Services (ITS) is improving the quality of customer service with an enhancement of AskTom. This will now be a part of the Remedyforce Service Desk.

What is it?

AskTom is a searchable database of general questions and answers for common questions. Now we are launching a chat service for additional Q and A.

How Do I use It?

1. Log in to memphis.edu.
2. Click on the left side.
3. Type your question and your AskTom answer will appear on the right side.

Or

4. Click, located at the bottom right of the window of the Self Service page.
5. Type your question or describe your issue in the text field then click Start Chat to begin chat session.

Let’s Recap!

Easier

Faster

Live Chat Feature!

As many of you know, I’m retiring effective 12/11.  I want to use this posting to express my appreciation to all and each of you – staff, faculty, students, and friends – who’ve made my time at UofM so rewarding.  You’ve helped work through the challenges and changes of the evolving higher ed and IT environments, bringing your creativity and commitment to keep us moving forward.  You’ve been excellent colleagues, and my work has only been possible because of yours.

Thanks for your support and dedication.  You make the UofM succeed.  I will miss working with you, and wish each of you the very best as you shape your own futures.

Go, Tigers!

Ellen

The UofM community will notice major changes to the MyMemphis portal beginning January 7, 2016. The redesign aims to improve the overall user experience with a fully responsive design and mobile-friendly approach to content.

We know you often access MyMemphis while on the go. The new look and feel of MyMemphis is optimized for outstanding performance not just on stationary computers, but also on phones, tablets and all other mobile devices.

The new portal has been running behind the scenes for quite awhile, and final testing is in progress. After the launch on January 7, we will address any operational issues if they are discovered and continue to implement tools that keep MyMemphis user-friendly.

We’ve worked hard to make improvements so that the secure, online, self-service resources of MyMemphis are much easier to navigate for everyone. If you have any questions before or after the new portal roll out, please send them to webservices@memphis.edu.

With the holidays about to go into full swing, the number of scams is on the rise. To keep yourself safe, here are a few things to remember:

• NEVER send personal or account information via email.
• ITS will ever ask for your password via email or phone.
• If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• Any suspicious emails may be forwarded to abuse@memphis.edu to be investigated.
• Do NOT click on links or attachments in suspicious or unknown emails.
• Phone calls can be a scam as well. Treat them the same as you would an email. Do NOT give out personal identification and report all suspicious calls to IT.

Feel free to contact x8888 with anything out of the ordinary.

Check out the resources listed below:

• https://www.fbi.gov/news/news_blog/holiday-shopping-tips
• http://www.memphis.edu/its/security/phishing.php
• http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0076-phone-scams

Remember: Be suspicious! Better to report something legitimate than to fail to report something fraudulent! While ITS provides a range of security protection in the background, YOU are the primary target and YOU are the link that closes the information security loop.

Happy Holidays~

Ellen

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month!  For more information visit http://www.memphis.edu/its/security/ncsam/.

Robert Jackson

Assoc. CIO & Chief Information Security Officer