SYSTEMS STAFF MONTHLY UPDATE - AUGUST 2005

WREQ Problem Reporting Tool
Email work requests and problem reports are now being entered into the WREQ problem reporting tool. You should submit all requests directly to WREQ and not to ntadmin or individual staff members. You can do this by posting a request through the web interface at: http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~wreq or simply by sending your email request to WREQ at cs dot sunysb dot edu.

Before reporting a problem visit www.cs.sunysb.edu/~faq and see if there's an faq addressing your question/problem. If not, then a wreq request is your next step.

Your problem report must include the following information for us to be able to help you promptly:

1. The room you are working in, either room number or lab name.
2. The name of the host you are working on (hostname command in Unix, machine number in 1239, the number written on the bookshelf by your desk in the student offices).
3. The sequence of things you did just prior to having the problem as best you recollect.
4. The exact text of any error message you see on the screen, or a complete description of the problem that occured.
5. Do NOT send attachments or mime mail. Wreq will reject such email. Text only.

Please report problems promptly as they occur so they can be investigated under the same set of conditions as far as possible.

WREQ Problem Reporting Tool for Administrative Requests
There is now a WREQ Problem Reporting Tool for work requests directed to the department secretarial and administrative staff. You should use secwreq for requests such as requisitions, course room changes, office supplies, grade changes, room reservations, payroll issues, tuition issues, reimbursements and building management needs. This tool can be found at http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~secwreq or you can send mail to SECWREQ at cs dot sunysb dot edu.

Announcements
The student file server will be unavailable this Saturday afternoon, August 6, for hardware upgrades, from approximately noon til 4pm. Student quotas will be increasing to 1 Gigabyte.
The Graduate PC Lab (room 1239) will be shut down on August 11 from 10am to 2pm for software upgrades.

Anti-Spam Control
Department users have the choice of participating in the spam filtering system. If you choose to be OUT of the system ALL of your mail will be delivered without spam screening. If you choose to be IN the system your mail will be filtered for spam content. Non-spam mail will be delivered as usual.

Mail flagged as likely spam will be set aside in a holding area by the anti-spam system. Twice per day you will be emailed a spam digest. The spam digest will list your spam mails which
have accumulated since the last digest was emailed to you, along with instructions on how to retrieve them.

By default all faculty are opted OUT of the spam filtering system, and all students are opted IN to the spam filtering system. Anyone can change their option in the spam filtering system by visiting http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/~sso. The login and password are the same as you use to log into the unix systems.

Avoiding Spam
One common way that spammers get your email address is by pulling it from a web page where it appears in clear text. Spammers use software to crawl the web to search out and collect up these addresses. If a google search on your email address returns pages of hits, you are going to receive a great deal of spam. In addition, PC viruses search out these addresses from the infected PC's web cache, and then uses them as forged sender and recipient addresses for virus email.

The FAQ at http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/FAQ/WebAvoidMailto.html details two methods for obscuring your email address on a web page, so that interested parties can reach you but your address cannot be harvested by automated programs. All department users are urged to go through their web pages and remove any plain text email addresses. If you need assistance in implementing either of these solutions please submit a wreq job with the details.

Please see the FAQ at
http://www.cs.sunysb.edu/FAQ/DepartmentSpamFilter.html for answers to questions you might have about this facility.

Campus Wide Alert
The campus Computing Center has sent out the following warning to all campus computer users:

"There have been reports of email circulating recently on campus that ask you to go to a Web site to confirm your user name and password. Some of these emails are reportedly being sent by the Notes Security Team or the SUNYSB.EDU Team etc. and "appear" to come from the systems administrators of various systems and are examples of "phishing" attempts. Please rest assured that the actual systems administrators of the various systems will never ask you to confirm
your username and password via Web links sent by email or send you an attachment via email that you have to open and run on your computer to verify your identity.

Please do not divulge sensitive personal information (passwords, credit card information, Social Security number, date of birth, Solar PIN etc.) on Web sites that you go to by simply clicking on Web links from emails. Other common phishing attempts purport to be from other trusted sources (banks, credit unions, etc.). Passwords and other sensitive information can be used to steal your identity. In
addition to identity theft, sensitive personal information can be used to compromise University systems. It is more than likely that emails with such links are forged and are fraudulent attempts to
steal your account and personal information. There have recently been a large number of such attempts.

If you feel you have compromised your Notes password, please change it immediately. Instructions to change your Notes Password are available at the Client Support Web site (Stony Brook Home Page, For Faculty and Staff, Computing and Tech, Client Support, Account/Password issues)."

The Computer Science Systems Staff also will never send out mail from a generic account asking you to provide any kind of sensitive information nor to go to a web site to do so. When in doubt, always verify with the actual sender before you open any email attachment or follow any unusual instructions.

Graduate PC Lab
New LCD screens will be installed in the Graduate PC Lab (room 1239) during the week of August 8 - August 12.

PCs and Laptops
Microsoft has released a new version of their automatic update client software called "Microsoft Update". Now you can get updates for Windows, Office and other Microsoft applications all in one place. Microsoft Update is a new service that brings you all the features and benefits of Windows
Update plus downloads for other Microsoft applications including Office. Check the following URL for more information. http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/

Account retirement
Accounts for students who have graduated in May will be retired Dec 1st 2005. The accounts will convert into courtesy accounts until then.

WWW quotas
Default quotas will become 75MB by August 13th 2005. It is always possible to get more space by making a wreq request.

Please report problems promptly as they occur so they can be investigated under the same set of conditions as far as possible. When in doubt, feel free to send email to:

  • Unix and network problems:ROOT at cs dot sunysb dot edu
  • PC problems: NTADMIN at cs dot sunysb dot edu

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