ITS Technology Tips

Did You Know?
Loyola University Chicago blocks over one million spam messages per day.

What is Phishing?
Phishing is an attempt to steal sensitive information, such as your social security number or passwords, by posing as a trusted organization or person. Phishers are known for using this information for identity theft and other fraudulent acts.

What do Phishing attacks look like?
Phishing is most commonly attempted via an email that will claim to come from a trusted organization, such as Loyola University Chicago, your bank or your credit card company. There are two common mechanisms that phishers use to steal your sensitive information:

• 1.  They will ask you to respond to an email with your sensitive  information.
• 2.  They will ask you to follow links to update your sensitive  information.
  • a.  You will appear to be providing your information to the trusted company, while in fact you will be providing that information to a phisher.

What are some types of Phishing attacks?

• “Spear Phishing” targets a particular person or organization into revealing confidential company information by impersonating the organization, or members of the organization.
• “Whaling” specifically targets senior management into divulging confidential information.

How can I prevent becoming a victim of Phishing attacks?
No legitimate organization will ever ask you for your password!

Do not click on any links sent via email, as these may take you to a web site that places malicious software on your computer. Instead, enter the address that you know is legitimate into your browser.

For example:  Instead of clicking on the URL received in an email (such as http://www.123citi-bank-usa.com/update/yourcredentials.html), open up Firefox and navigate to Citibank’s known website: www.citibank.com.

Call the institution to inquire on the matter instead of following the link. In addition, refrain from calling any numbers listed in the email, and instead, use a number for the organization that you know is legitimate.

If you are prompted to enter your username and password to a site that appears legitimate, enter both incorrectly.  A fraudulent site will accept the incorrect username and password while a legitimate site will not. Also make sure to check that the SSL certificate is valid and error free. Refer to the following link and steps to validate the sites SSL certificate, http://info.ssl.com/article.aspx?id=10068.

If you do provide personal or sensitive information to a malicious site, immediately contact the appropriate institution with the details surrounding the occurrence.

Where can I send potential Phishing attacks to be processed?
LUC Staff, faculty, and students should report any regular phishing emails or sites to spam@mailfoundry.com.

If you have received a Spear Phishing or Whaling attack, please forward it to DataSecurity@luc.edu.

Where can I find more info?
Visit http://www.luc.edu/uiso/protect_yourself.shtml for additional security tips.

Odds are you’ve heard something about the campus-wide upgrade to Windows 7.  If not, here’s the short version: By the end of the calendar year, all labs, classrooms, and faculty and staff computers will be running Microsoft’s latest.

But other things are also happening. With the Windows upgrade, we’ll also be moving to the 2010 version of Microsoft’s Office suite. If you are currently using Office 2007, the visual and functional changes coming with Office 2010 should be relatively easy to navigate. For those who are currently using Office 2003, however, the upgrade represents a big jump.

Is there anything I should do to prepare?

We’re glad you asked. If you’re using Office 2003 or 2007, you can sit tight until your department is scheduled for its upgrade to begin using Office 2010. But why wait? Why not upgrade now, on your own, and give yourself a little extra time to learn all the new features?

What’s so different in Office 2010?

The move to Office 2010 will provide many benefits, including stronger formatting features, built-in PDF support, new audio and visual tools in some programs, and a real-time co-authoring tool for document collaboration. The most notable difference for those coming from the 2003 programs is the Microsoft “ribbon,” a visual panel of features that continually displays options previously found through menus and toolbars. This ribbon interface was introduced with the Office 2007 suite, and further enhancements have been made with the Office 2010 programs.

OK, I’ll upgrade now. How do I do it?

It’s easy. Select Loyola Software, Useful Tools, Microsoft Office, Office 2010, and the installation will begin.

There are a few requirements. For instance, you’ll need Windows XP SP3 and 200 MB free space on your C: drive to upgrade. (If the Office 2010 option doesn’t show up when you go to Loyola Software, you may not meet these technical requirements. If that’s the case, please email windows7@luc.edu for information on how to proceed.)

How long does it take?

Installation time varies depending on the speed of your machine, and could take 25-45 minutes. You’ll see a progress bar on screen during the installation, though it may not always look like it’s moving. You’ll be asked to reboot your computer when the process is complete.

What if I need help with the new programs?

Workshops featuring the Office 2010 programs will be available through ITS starting in January. In the meantime, Microsoft offers a bunch of great resources on their support site.  For a few suggestions, visit the About Office 2010 section of our Microsoft Migration Project web pages. (While you’re there you can check out more about the project, including other ways to prepare.)

If you have any questions or problems, please contact the ITS project team at windows7@luc.edu.

Loyola faculty and staff are able to store files on Loyola’s network; users have access to a private (U:) drive and some departments may have a shared directory.  You can get to the network from any campus computer; however what if you are off-campus and need to access your files?  With DocXchanger, Loyola users can simply and securely access their files located on Loyola’s network, from any Internet location.  DocXchanger may be accessed via a Web interface or by downloading a Windows client. With this service, users also have the capability to share their files with external (non-Loyola) affiliates.

Note: You will need to have your Loyola user ID set‐up to work with this application; please refer to the DocXchanger Access Instructions or contact the IT HelpDesk for more information.

Keep in mind that DocXchanger only provides access to files stored on Loyola’s network.  If you need remote access to any files or applications on your Loyola desktop computer, you will need to request access to Loyola’s Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Google Scholar is a free search service that offers the capability to search for scholarly literature across the Web. With Scholar, searchers are able to find peer-reviewed papers, abstracts, and citations from a variety of scholarly organizations such as academic publishers and universities.  Scholar provides the straightforward interface and convenience we’re accustomed to with a Google search. However, the added benefit is that Scholar enables searchers to search against only academic materials. Google has also worked with academic publishers to make some information that is generally protected by subscription barriers available in a Scholar search.  The advantage of this arrangement is that searchers can access abstracts and citation information from a diversity of resources.

While full text articles are occasionally available from Scholar, you may still need to access the complete resource from a library or publisher. In this case, you can take advantage of Loyola Libraries  to help locate the materials you find in a Scholar search. If you use Scholar through the Loyola Libraries web pages or from on-campus, you will get a link to the full text journals available from the LU Libraries.  Scholar can also be customized to link to Loyola holdings. Ask at the Lewis or Cudahy Libraries for assistance with this and other resources.

For this week’s Tech Tip, we offer important information about the GroupWise email client. The Junk Mail Handling feature in GroupWise enables users to decide what to do with unwanted Internet items including e-mails, appointments, or tasks that are sent to your GroupWise e-mail address. This includes all e-mail, appointments, or tasks where the sender’s address is in the form of name@domain.com, name@domain.org, etc..

Junk Mail Handling does not apply to internal e-mail, appointments, or tasks. Internal items are e-mails, appointments, or tasks where the sender is part of your GroupWise system and the “From” field shows only the name of the sender, not an Internet address as explained above. However, Loyola email addresses that are addressed with the Loyola domain name or the Loyola email domain luc.edu may be added to the Block or Junk Lists in error by an email user.

If a Loyola email address or the Loyola email domain luc.edu appears on your Block or Junk Lists you will be at risk of not receiving email from other Faculty, Staff, and Students on the Loyola GroupWise System.

How to Check your Block and Junk Lists

To ensure that you do not have (username@luc.edu) email addresses or the luc.edu domain on your Block or Junk Lists, go to the Tools Menu select Junk Mail Handling… Click on the tabs to select the Block List or Junk List. Search both the Block and Junk lists for any (username@luc.edu) addresses and the luc.edu domain. If you locate a luc.edu address you will need to redefine it from the list. To redefine the address or domain, select the item from the list then click the Move to Trust button at the top right corner of the Junk Mail Handling window.

For assistance with Junk Mail Handling:

1. Call: 773-508-7190 (or on campus 4-4444)
2. E-mail: helpdesk@luc.edu