Dear Campus Community,

As the holidays approach, Information Technology Services (ITS) is providing the following reminders to help protect your personal information and University data:

• Lock away any documents or devices with sensitive information before leaving your campus workspace or residence for the holidays.
• Vehicle break-ins are more frequent this time of year. Don’t leave phones, computers, or other valuables in your car.
• Scammers use fear and anxiety to trigger impulsive reactions. Stop and think before responding to any email, call, or text.
• Don’t click unexpected links or attachments. Use trusted websites or apps to view account or order information.
• Beware of any requests for personal or account information, especially from unknown sources. ITS will never ask for your password.
• Be suspicious of any promises of gift cards, lottery winnings, or easy job opportunities. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
• If you see a security alert pop-up window in your browser or desktop, do not call the number given or click any link. It’s likely a scam, and your device could be infected with malware. Call the ITS Service Desk immediately at 901.678.8888.

For more tips on keeping your personal and University data safe, visit our IT Security Phishing and Best Practices web pages.

Forward suspicious emails to abuse@memphis.edu, and report any lost devices or unusual account activity — such as unexpected Duo prompts — to the ITS Service Desk at umtech@memphis.edu or 901.678.8888.

Happy Holidays,
Robert Jackson, EdD
Chief Information Officer

Dear Campus Community,

The University of Memphis has selected RingCentral MVP Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) to replace our existing on-premises legacy phone system. In 2017, ITS initiated a series of projects to modernize the campus network to support the evolution of services to the cloud. Migrating to RingCentral supports the University’s strategic plan by providing improved services that support student success, sustainability, branding, and community engagement; aligns with ongoing ITS technology modernization efforts and strengthens business continuity and disaster recovery.

Student support will be enhanced with RingCentral’s modernized call centers (Contact Centers). Features in RingCentral’s Contact Centers will better serve students during peak times, such as having the telephone system call the student when a University representative is available. Improved analytics on call volumes, wait-for queues, and other metrics will improve service to the campus community and can help identify staffing needs to best serve students during peak times of the year.

Additional features include improved support for remote employees via mobile and PC apps, electronic faxing capabilities, audio, and visual conferencing integration capabilities, and improved voicemail and call management features.

As the project moves forward, additional communication and status updates will be provided and ITS will collaborate with each University department to coordinate the transition. For more information about the RingCentral project, please visit the RingCentral project page.

Regards,

Robert Jackson, EdD
Chief Information Officer

Dear Campus Community,

Information Technology Services (ITS) extends a warm welcome to new and returning students, faculty, and staff. Here’s a quick overview of a few things we’d like you to pay close attention to in order to better protect yourself and your information online:

• ITS recommends regularly reviewing IT Security Policies and Guidelines (memphis.edu/its/security/policies-guidelines.php) as well as Guidelines for Storage of University Electronic Data (memphis.edu/its/security/data-storage-guidelines.php) for appropriate storage services and locations for all classifications of University data.
• Be vigilant about phishing and other email scams, especially gift cards, financial, or employment scams that sound too good to be true. Visit memphis.edu/its/security/phishing.php for more information on how to protect yourself from phishing. It is a violation of policy to share University passwords. University personnel will never ask for your University password. Should you ever receive a suspicious email, please forward it to abuse@memphis.edu for analysis. For more information and to review tips for protecting your personal information, visit memphis.edu/its/security.
• Use caution with USB devices of unknown origin, as these devices may be used to install malicious software on your computer. See our phishing and scams page for more information.

For technical assistance, visit umhelpdesk.memphis.edu to submit requests online, call 901.678.8888 for phone assistance, or email umtech@memphis.edu.

Regards,

Robert Jackson, Ed.D.
Chief Information Officer

Information Technology Services (ITS) is providing the following alert to warn against ongoing phishing threats targeting UofM email accounts. Please take note of the following steps to avoid falling victim to an attack:

• Never approve Duo requests you did not initiate. Decline and report them to the ITS Service Desk immediately.
• Avoid acting on urgent or threatening language in emails. Take time to verify that the sender and the message are legitimate before clicking a link or taking other action that could create vulnerability.
• Verify URLs for websites before providing usernames and/or passwords.
• Do not click on links or attachments from unexpected or otherwise suspicious email messages.

If you receive an email that has a suspicious link or attachment, please report the message by clicking the Phish Alert Button in Outlook or forwarding the email to abuse@memphis.edu. For additional assistance or to report unusual account activity, contact the ITS Service Desk at umtech@memphis.edu or 901.678.8888.

Regards,

Robert Jackson, EdD
Chief Information Officer

Canvas Studio will replace Ensemble as the video education platform. Studio provides users with the ability to record and host interactive video within Canvas. Faculty can also use Studio to create in-video quizzes, provide students with instant feedback on in-video quiz responses, sync in-video quiz grades directly to the grade book and assign videos based on MasteryPaths. The Studio platform also provides users with the option to automatically caption videos in 20 different languages, meeting federal accessibility requirements.

Ensemble will be decommissioned on August 31. Beginning May 16, Ensemble will be set to “read only.” This will provide current Ensemble users time to access their video content and transition it to Canvas Studio. UM3D has put together resources to assist faculty with the process of transitioning their instructional media from Ensemble to Canvas Studio. More information can be found via the link below.

Ensemble Video to Canvas Studio Transition

If you have questions, please contact UM3D via email at UM3D@memphis.edu.

Regards,

Robert Jackson, EdD
Chief Information Officer

The University of Memphis will activate additional security protections for email in Office 365 effective March 5. These changes will allow us to eliminate a legacy product, MimeCast, and to utilize tools now provided by Microsoft in the Office 365 environment. For an optimal experience, ITS recommends that users install the Office 365 Outlook email app on mobile devices. You can learn more about this initiative by clicking here.

Should you need assistance, please contact the ITS Service Desk at 901.678.8888 or via email at umtech@memphis.edu.

Regards,

Robert Jackson, EdD

Information Technology Services (ITS) is providing the following alert to warn against fraudulent email scam attempts targeting UofM email accounts. If you receive an email involving gift card purchases, cash disbursement, transfer of funds, or any other financial activity that appears to be from a University official, or if you are asked to provide personal information via email, carefully review the email before responding and follow up with a phone call to the appropriate office to confirm the authenticity of the request. Do not provide any personal or University information until you have verified that the request is legitimate. Be especially careful of links included in emails.

Remember to treat unsolicited job opportunities, special offers, and unexpected email attachments with skepticism. Even if the message appears to come from a trusted individual, be mindful of the language or addresses used in the message and be suspicious if they don’t match what you typically receive from the individual. If you receive an email message that asks you to take a questionable action or has a suspicious attachment, please report the message by forwarding the email to abuse@memphis.edu or calling the ITS Service Desk at 901.678.8888.

For faculty and staff members who have not yet done so, please complete IT Security Awareness Training as soon as possible. The deadline for completing training is Feb. 28, 2022, and reminder emails will be issued periodically.

Regards,

Robert Jackson, EdD
Chief Information Officer

Here’s a quick overview of a few things we’d like you to pay close attention to in order to better protect yourself and your information online:

• ITS recommends regularly reviewing IT Security Policies and Guidelines (memphis.edu/its/security/policies-guidelines.php) as well as Guidelines for Storage of University Electronic Data (memphis.edu/its/security/data-storage-guidelines.php) for appropriate storage services and locations for all classifications of University data. Policies regarding information technology can be found at memphis.edu/umtech/service_desk/policies/it_policies.php.
• Be vigilant about phishing and other email scams, especially gift card, financial or employment scams that sound too good to be true. Visit memphis.edu/its/security/phishing.php for more information on how to protect yourself from phishing. It is a violation of policy to share University passwords. University personnel will never ask for your University password. Should you ever receive a suspicious email, please forward it to abuse@memphis.edu for analysis. For more information and to review tips for protecting your personal information visit memphis.edu/its/security.
• Use caution with USB devices of unknown origin, as these devices may be used to install malicious software on your computer. See our phishing and scams page for more information.

For technical assistance, visit umhelpdesk.memphis.edu to submit requests online, call 901.678.8888 for phone assistance, or email umtech@memphis.edu.

Regards,

Robert Jackson, Ed.D.
Chief Information Officer

Information Technology Services (ITS) is providing the following alert to warn you of recent phishing attempts targeting colleges and universities nationally. Scammers are attempting to collect usernames and passwords, often luring users with information regarding COVID-19 developments. Attackers are exploiting this busy time of year to catch students, faculty, and staff off guard. Please take note of the following steps to avoid falling victim to an attack:

• Carefully scrutinize the address of any web page that is requesting username and password information. The link text can mask a hidden URL, and scammers can create convincing fake login pages. Trusted UofM login pages will be at the memphis. edu domain. Beware of fraudulent web pages like “memphis. edu. fakesite. xc”.
• If you’re unsure whether a link is legitimate, close the email and open a trusted site in a new browser window. For example, the myMemphis portal will allow you to safely login to UofM Single Sign-On.
• Pay close attention to DUO requests. For the best security, use DUO pushes and open the app to verify your request is legitimate before approving. If you receive any unexpected DUO requests, always decline and contact the ITS Service Desk immediately.

As always, be suspicious of any email with unexpected attachments or requests for personal information, and never share your password with anyone. If you receive any message that you’re unsure about, forward it to abuse@memphis.edu to request guidance. Report any unusual account activity to the ITS Service Desk at umtech@memphis.edu or 901.678.8888.

University technology, including hardware and software downloaded and installed on University computers, as well as subscriptions to cloud-based services such as file storage or other services, are subject to applicable information security and procurement policies.

Use caution when downloading and installing software. Some software may be malicious. Other software, while legitimate, may lack appropriate data security protections, or have licensing agreements that contain impermissible terms and financial obligations. Downloadable software products and cloud services may result in one-time or recurring costs that could potentially lead to expensive licensing violations. An example is when a base pack is free, but an extension pack requires the purchase of a license. Other examples include cloud-based services that offer “free” limited services until a certain threshold is reached.

To avoid inadvertently obligating your department for payment of unintended costs, be wary of clickthrough licensing agreements (digital prompts that ask you to accept or decline a policy or contract before granting access to a software product or service). Agreements for seemingly free services can potentially create a financial obligation for the University or pose a risk to data security. Such agreements may constitute contracts that are subject to appropriate review and approval.

If you have questions about software installations or cloud-based services, please consult with your LSP or contact the Service Desk via email or by telephone at 901.678.8888.