OIT News – July 2012

OIT News
Monthly news briefs, information and announcements
Office of Information Technology, NC State University
Issue 57, July 2012
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Follow OIT on Twitter @NCStateOIT
For up-to-the-minute reports on OIT systems, see SysNews
For help with computing problems, contact the NC State Help Desk
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01: NC State Identity Management Team kicks off
Phase One Project
02: ComTech rolls out 802.11n wireless to Central Campus
03: OIT publishes 2011-12 Annual Report, Strategic Planning Process
04: Get your copy of Computing @ NC State 2012
05: New software downloads available
06: Reminder: OIT to change processing time for Optical Mark Reading Services
07: Announcing the “in-doc organizing” Google Drive option
08: Google Apps @ NC State training
09: SAR training scheduled for Sept. 11
10: Malicious email you (hopefully) never see

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01: NC State Identity Management Team kicks off Phase One Project
The NC State Identity Management Team, in conjunction with its implementation partner Hub City Media (HCM), has begun its Phase One Project, which will replace the current Unity-based account provisioning system in order to develop a comprehensive identity management program for campus. Identity management will benefit NC State by:

  • Identifying the attributes that are important in all university business processes and ensuring that everyone is using a common definition of those attributes.
  • Improving security and privacy by sharing only what is necessary about an individual and only when it is necessary.
  • Allowing efficient sharing of resources within university applications and systems as well as beyond the university at sites such as research.gov.
  • Streamlining the integration of new university processes.


On May 30, the team held a widely-attended project kickoff meeting wherein the overall project scope, methodology and a high-level project schedule were introduced and defined. In mid June, HCM and NC State staff began the discovery phase with requirements-gathering meetings and discussions. Processes covered included account management; user life cycle events from the Student Information System (SIS) and Human Resources System; password management; provisioning/deprovisioning for LDAP, Google and Active Directory; and hardware architecture. The team hopes to complete a requirements specification document by July 20 and then move into the Design phase of the project.

Additional information about NC State’s identity management and project updates can be found on the Identity Management website.

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02: ComTech rolls out 802.11n wireless to Central Campus
Communication Technologies (ComTech) will migrate a number of buildings on Central Campus to 802.11n, the latest Wi-Fi technology, on Friday, July 20 beginning at noon.

This spring, ComTech began moving the campus wireless infrastructure to 802.11n to provide campus with updated wireless technology and to address an increase in the number of wireless devices connecting to the campus network and an increase in bandwidth usage. The new wireless access points are 802.11agn, which allows 802.11n-capable clients to connect at a faster data rate (up to 300Mb/s depending upon configuration and the radio frequency band). The legacy access points have a maximum data rate of only 54Mb/s.

The following Central Campus buildings will experience rolling wireless outages of approximately 30 minutes: Alexander Residence Hall, Avent Ferry Residence Hall A, Avent Ferry Residence Hall B, Avent Ferry Residence Hall E, Avent Ferry Residence Hall G, Bagwell Residence Hall, Becton Residence Hall, Berry Residence Hall, Biltmore Hall, Bowen Residence Hall, Butler Communications Building, Carmichael Gym, Carmichael Recreation Center, Carroll Residence Hall, Case Athletics Center, Cates Avenue Steam Plant, Clark Hall, Dail Softball Stadium, Derr Track, First Year College Commons, Fountain Dining Hall, Greek Village, Grinnells Animal Health Laboratories, Harris Hall, Hodges Wood Product Laboratories, Honors Village Commons, Jordan Hall, Metcalf Residence Hall, Owen Residence Hall, Price Music Center, Pullen Hall, Pulp and Paper Laboratories, Reynolds Coliseum, Shaub Hall, Student Health Center, Talley Student Center, Thompson Hall, Tucker Residence Hall, Turlington Residence Hall, Weaver Laboratories, Weisiger-Brown Athletics Facility, West Dunn Building, Witherspoon Student Center, and Wood Residence Hall.

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03: OIT publishes 2011-12 Annual Report, Strategic Planning Process
OIT recently published two internal reports that highlight its strategic goals and initiatives to help manage the university’s complex IT environment.

Be IT: The Office of Information Technology 2011-12 Annual Report spotlights the organization’s efforts to enhance information and communication technology services as well as staff accolades and accomplishments this past fiscal year. To comply with Chancellor Randy Woodson’s request for unit-level strategic documents, OIT also developed a Strategic Planning Process Report, which includes a three-phase approach to improve the use of IT as a driver for change for the university. The document comprises OIT’s strategic principles, initiatives, and investment priorities and illustrates how they align with The Pathway to the Future: NC State University Strategic Plan 2011-20.

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04: Get your copy of Computing @ NC State 2012
OIT recently published Computing @ NC State, an annual publication that orients new students–and their parents–as well as faculty and staff to the information technology resources on campus.

This year’s publication of Computing @ NC State is jam-packed with a variety of topics, including the MyPack Portal, secure mobile devices, Unity accounts, Google Apps @ NC State, safe computing, copyright infringement, iTunesU, social networking, YouTube at NC State, computer recommendations, and MobileWeb.

As a faculty or staff member, you may have occasion to point students to this informative publication if they have IT-related questions in your class or office. Get your copy!

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05: New software downloads available
OIT Software Licensing Management is offering campus users several new versions of academic software for download.

Matlab 2012a, Maple 16 and other software titles can be acquired by visiting the Software Licensing website.

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06: Reminder: OIT to change processing time for Optical Mark Reading Services
Due to an increase in service demand, OIT Optical Mark Reading (OMR) Services will change its processing time to scan exams and quizzes from 24 hours to two business days. This change is effective Thursday, Aug. 16 with the beginning of fall semester.

OMR supports nearly all of the university’s Scantron-based (bubble sheet) exams and quizzes, faculty and course evaluations, and surveys. Faculty and staff who use this service should plan accordingly for this change and for high volume periods such as midterm and final exams.

OMR will continue to process faculty and course evaluations within three to five business days and most surveys within five to seven business days. The processing time for customized surveys may take longer.

For additional information about OIT Optical Mark Reading Services, contact op-scanning@ncsu.edu.

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07: Announcing the “in-doc organizing” Google Drive option
Organizing your Google Drive (formerly Google Docs) documents into folders has become easier in Google Apps @ NC State.

You can add an open document to a folder (formerly collection) simply by clicking the folder icon at the top of the document, and then selecting the folder to which you’d like to add your document. Placing documents into folders can help you find and share them faster. Sharing a folder with another user shares all the documents contained in that folder, as well as ones added later, cutting down on the time it takes to share items.

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08: Google Apps @ NC State training
OIT will offer the following Google Apps @ NC State training sessions in August:

  • Google Apps @ NC State Beyond the Basics: Gmail will be offered on Thursday, Aug. 9 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.  in Room 110 of the Avent Ferry Technology Center (OIT Training Labs). This hands-on workshop will focus on more intermediate features, including multiple signatures, template text, mail filters, search operators, labels, labs features, keyboard shortcuts, people widget, contact groups, and more. For more information and to register, visit Classmate.
  • Google Apps @ NC State mail and calendar training will be offered on Tuesday, Aug. 14 from 9 a.m. to noon in Room 110 of the Avent Ferry Technology Center (OIT Training Labs). This hands-on workshop will cover everything you need to know to get started with Gmail and Google Calendar, including an overview of the apps and helpful resources. For more information and to register, visit Classmate.

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09: SAR training scheduled for Sept. 11
Monthly Security Access Request (SAR) training for campus requestors and approvers of access to secured university data will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 11 from 9:30 a.m. to noon in the ITTC Lab 2 of D.H. Hill Library. Please visit Classmate to view available classes and to sign up for training.

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10: Malicious email you (hopefully) never see
Every single day, hackers are sending malicious email (with virus-infected attachments or links to malicious websites) to NC State email (ncsu.edu) accounts. Most of these are blocked by either Postini or Gmail, but a few are delivered.

If you do receive one, it may be hard to distinguish from a real “business” email, and it may appear threatening, prompting you to act. Some malicious emails received on campus recently included the following messages:

  • You have been illegally downloading files (with an attached settlement offer).
  • You have been accused of harassment (with attached evidence).
  • A criminal investigation has been started against you (with attached evidence).
  • You tried to break into my Facebook account (with attached evidence).
  • I know you broke into my email account (with attached evidence).
  • I’m going to send these photos to your spouse (with attached photos).

Each of the email attachments listed above was a virus that steals usernames and passwords to email accounts, online banking accounts, or social networking sites. These newest social engineering attacks try to trick you into opening an email attachment to find out more about a threat or accusation. It is natural to be curious about what you’ve supposedly been accused of, but be skeptical if the story seems unlikely.

Keep in mind that the attacker may send a malicious link inside the email instead of an attachment. Remember, too, that the From address in an email is easy to fake. An email that appears to come from facebook.com or verizon.com can actually originate anywhere. To find the true source of an email, you can copy and paste its full headers at WhatIsMyIPAddress.com.

OIT Security and Compliance offers the following tips for dealing with email attachments:

  • Do not open unexpected attachments.
  • Make sure you scan attachments with up-to-date antivirus software before opening them.
  • If you must open an attachment from someone you don’t know, first save it and then scan it at www.virustotal.com. This site will scan your file with about 40 different antivirus scanners and let you know if any of them detect malware.
  • If  the attachment is detected as malware, do not open it.

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For help with computing at NC State, visit the NC State Help Desk website, phone 515-HELP (4357), or visit Room 101, West Dunn Building.

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