IT News
Fall 2011
Division of Information Technology
National Cyber Security Awareness Month
Information
Technology
Help Desk
Regular Fall Hours
M-Th 8:00 am—8:00 pm
Fri 8:00 am—5:00 pm
Call Us
734-487-2120
Visit Us
106 Halle Library
Email Us
it.helpdesk@emich.edu
Don’t Get Cracked
Gotcha Campaign: While out and about on
campus, IT staff will watch for computers
that are logged in but have been left unattended. We’ll simply place a wE-GOTCHA!
notice on the computer’s display with a
reminder about locking your computer
when you have to step away. Information
on how to lock your computer is available at
https://it.emich.edu/security/lockcomputer.cfm. (continued on page 4)
Don’t Get Cracked – use a longer password!
In this issue:
Cyber Security
Awareness Month
October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. The Division of Information
Technology plans to provide a number of
resources throughout the month to raise
awareness about the responsibility each of
us holds to protect ourselves and the University when using computing resources.
1
1
In our increasingly digital
world, it is critical to understand the importance
of passwords and how to
construct ones that are
easy to remember, but
difficult for hackers to
guess (crack) or discover
with cracking software. In
minutes, they may be
able to crack your password and cause serious
harm via identity theft.
The following is a list that
will help you secure your
personal information:
IT Exam Scanning
Window Location
2
Faculty Spotlight
3
Print Stations
4
IT Lab Locations
4
Don’t share your password! Let’s start with the
4
obvious. Don’t share your
password, not even with
family members, friends,
co-workers, the IT Help
Emergency Alerts
Desk, or anyone else. The
IT Division will never ask
you for your password so
don’t offer it up. Never
write passwords down on
a note next to your computer.
Don’t reuse passwords.
You should never use
your EMU password for
other Internet sites like
Facebook, Twitter, Gmail,
etc. It’s a good idea to
have different passwords
for every important site
that you use. If your
password on another site
gets compromised, using
a different password will
keep your EMU accounts
from also being compromised.
Don’t use personal connections in creating
passwords. It is easy for
hackers to crack passwords using birthdays,
telephone numbers, or
friend, family, or pet
names.
Do use an encrypted
password management
application. Let’s face it,
we have many passwords
to remember these days. If
you can’t keep them all in
your head, consider using
software like KeePass,
http://www.keepass.info,
which is available for free.
Never store your passwords on paper or in an
unencrypted file.
(continued on page 2)
Page 2
IT News
Exam and Survey Scanning Window
The Division of IT Exam Scanning Window
has returned to Pray Harrold!
For exam and survey scanning services,
please come to 119 Pray Harrold
The window is located on the
Ground floor of Pray Harrold
Monday-Friday 8:00 am to 6:30 pm
If you have any questions, please call us at
(734) 487-1492
Don’t Get Cracked (continued from page 1)
Do use longer passwords.
Because longer passwords are
harder to crack, EMU recommends that passwords have a
minimum length of 10 characters. Almost any 8-character
password can be cracked with
powerful computers in less
than two hours and 10 characters in a matter of days, but a
12-character password could
take years to break. To make
passwords even stronger, they
should include letters, numbers, punctuation marks, and
misspelled words.
Here are a few examples of
strong yet easy to remember
passwords:
H0rse%2rac1ng
mirtleB3ach
Makeuhd1fference
Cartoon by xkcd.com licensed under Creative Commons, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.5/
lake+9mich1gan
Live20the12dream
Travel18the81w0rld
Just remember to never share your password, don’t use your EMU password at other sites, keep your passwords safe, and use longer passwords!
Fall 2011
Page 3
Faculty Spotlight
QR Codes at Eastern Michigan University by Michael McVey, Ed.D
QR Codes, the small boxes of
scattered black pixels, are ubiquitous these
days. You
can find
them in
advertising and
newspapers as
well as on
business
Example of a QR Code.
cards and
official documents. You will soon
be able to find them placed carefully throughout the Eastern Michigan University’s Halle Library
thanks to the efforts of eFellow’s
funding recipient Suzanne Gray,
an assistant professor in the University Library and Women’s and
Gender Studies.
As a brief background, a QR code,
abbreviated from Quick Response
code, is used to encode information as a diagram in two dimensional spaces. They were initially
used for tracking parts in vehicle
manufacturing but are now used
in broader contexts since they can
easily link to web addresses or
vCard information which is the
file format standard for electronic
business cards. You could liken
them to creating a hyperlink in
our physical space to a place of
your choosing online.
The functionality of such codes
is just beginning to take off. As
an example, in many bus shelters
in Japan travellers can point the
camera on their Internet enabled
device to the QR code on the shelter’s printed schedule to turn a
static timetable into a real time
update on the progress of the
next bus.
On campus,
Gray will place
the QR codes
in contentsensitive locations throughout the library
building and on
other print media generated
by the library.
Students with
smart devices
can scan the codes to link to a
variety of resources and educational materials on the library’s
website. The goal is to create links
between locations in the Halle
Library and the library’s online
presence, including links to mobile
-enhanced subject guides and
brief video tutorials to assist students with their research.
Additional projects include links
that direct library users to
Esearch, a tool that allows you
to search the library’s collection
of books, articles, e-books, dissertations, videos, music, and more.
Suzanne Gray
Assistant Professor
University Library and
Women’s Gender Studies
hope to deploy QR codes. Gray is
also experimenting with lamination methods to ensure the codes
will be readable over time and in
different lighting conditions. She
is looking forward to launching
the project this fall and sharing
the results with colleagues across
campus in the spring.
From a single interface, QR codes
will also link to appropriate resources such as APA and MLA
style guides which can be downloaded directly to the smart devices.
Gray is working with librarian
Sara Memmott to use Google
Analytics to track the usage of QR
codes generated for this project.
One of her goals is to determine
whether the technology has made
an adequate foothold at EMU and
to share what she has learned
with other units on campus that
QR code on a library shelf linking a device
to a web page.
You may obtain the reader and
learn more about the project at
http://guides.emich.edu/qrcodes.
Page 4
IT News
IT Computer Labs
Locations and Hours
Morell D. Boone
Computing Commons
Ground Floor Halle Library
Phone: 734.487.2121
108 PCs
24 Macs
Fall 2011
Mon—Thu
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
7:30 am — 1:45 am
7:30 am — 10:45 pm
9:00 am — 10:45 pm
Noon
— 1:45 am
MultiMedia Commons
First Floor Halle Library
Phone: 734.487.2687
30 PCs
13 Macs
Fall 2011
Mon—Thu
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
7:30 am — 11:45 pm
7:30 am — 7:45 pm
9:00 am — 5:45 pm
Noon — 11:45 pm
Owen Computing Lab
101 Owen Building
Phone: 734.487.2241
90 PCs
Fall 2011
Mon — Thu 8:00 am - 9:50 pm
Fri — Sun
Closed
Student Center Computing Lab
270 Student Center
Phone: 734.487.1365
43 PCs
Fall 2011
Mon — Sun Open 24x7
Get a Text Alert when an
Emergency happens on
Campus
Register at:
https://www.getrave.com/
login/EasternMichigan
National Cyber Security (continued from page 1)
Training Videos: Engaging, video-based training will be
available via my.emich on topics such as:
Email threats like phishing
Securing your mobile devices
Staying safe while using social networking sites
Protecting your data
Posters: Posters will be distributed throughout campus with
tips on staying safe online.
Online Resources: The National Cyber Security Alliance
provides a number of valuable tip sheets on their web site http://www.staysafeonline.org/cybersecurity-awarenessmonth/ncsam-tip-sheets.
Topics include:
Gaming tips for kids
Gaming tips for parents
Internet safety and security tips for college students
Internet safety and security tips for parents
Mobile safety tips
Social networking tips
Quick Print Stations on Campus
This summer, the Board of Regents gave approval to a Student
Government requested project to increase the printing options on
campus. Expanding on the success and popularity of the Quick
Print stations in the Student Center and Halle Library, the Division
of Information Technology will add similar devices and printers in
twelve locations around campus.
Instead of a desktop computer, the print stations utilize a ‘thinclient’ which is a small device that allows users to insert their USB
drive and retrieve their documents for printing to a nearby printer.
Additionally, users can retrieve files stored online or in their email
via a web browser.
Students who are connected to the wireless network with their
laptops in these areas may also upload their documents to print
through the web application PaperCut™. In a browser’s address bar,
students enter ‘labprint.emich.edu’ and select the Web Print link
from the menu on the left. Then they can select a printer, select the
number of copies, and upload an Adobe PDF file, Word Document,
Excel Spreadsheet or PowerPoint Presentation to send to the printer.
The first of the new stations, located in the Crossroads Market and
The Eateries, went live September 1. The next pair, slated for
McKenny and Porter, are scheduled to be online before the end of
September. Keep an eye out for additional locations in selected
academic buildings as the semester progresses.