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.