Windows XP Support

As of August 15, 2013, UNA ITS will no longer support the Microsoft Windows XP operating system. 

Microsoft has already dropped Mainstream and Service Pack support on this product and will cease all support for Windows XP in April of 2014 ( http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?c2=1173 ).  Ending UNA ITS support of XP will allow us to focus on newer and more secure Microsoft operating systems and to make some much needed Campus and Dorm wireless network changes, which are not supported with Windows XP.

UNA  Information Technology Services

UNA Network Outage

In an effort to finalize UNA’s move from a PBX-based phone system to a Voice-Over-IP (VoIP) system and to consolidate other resources, we need to relocate some vital equipment.  This relocation has been scheduled to begin on Friday, May 31^st at 10PM.  During this relocation, all network services to and from off campus will be unavailable.  This means that from on campus, you will have no electronic access to off campus via UNA’s campus network.  This includes phone service from your office phone.  Also, during this time, this means that from off campus, you will have no electronic access to on campus resources via the Internet and UNA’s campus network.  This includes phone service to your office phone as well.  This network outage will affect East Campus as well.

We have contracted with AT&T to perform this move and plan to have this move completed before 8AM on Saturday, June 1^st.  We hope that the timing of this upgrade will minimize any negative impact on the campus.  We apologize for any inconveniences this may cause but this is necessary step in the process of providing high quality service to UNA.

If you have any questions, please contact UNA’s IT helpdesk via e-mail at helpdesk@una.edu.

Thank you.

UNA Information Technology Services

http://www.una.edu/its

Microsoft Windows XP Operating System

As of August 15, 2013, UNA ITS will no longer support the Microsoft Windows XP operating system. 

Microsoft has already dropped Mainstream and Service Pack support on this product and will cease all support for Windows XP in April of 2014 ( http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?c2=1173 ).  Ending UNA ITS support of XP will allow us to focus on newer and more secure Microsoft operating systems and to make some much needed Campus and Dorm wireless network changes, which are not supported with Windows XP.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Spring Break e-mail upgrade – UPDATE

We had originally announced on February 25, 2013 that our e-mail system would be down during the week of Spring Break due to an upgrade to Office 365. This has changed. Due to a scheduling conflict with Microsoft that we have been unable to resolve, the upgrade WILL NOT take place during our Spring Break week. 

This upgrade is still necessary and we are working to be as prepared as possible until Microsoft’s schedule clears. We are also working on an appropriate timeline for UNA to minimize the business impact for us. As soon as we have more definitive information regarding this upgrade and Microsoft’s schedule, we will inform the campus.

Phone Outage Reminder

ITS is scheduling the last phase of the new phone system implementation on March 25th thru March 27th. This will require ITS to take the phone system offline during this time. Once this process has been completed we will be able to shut down and remove the old PBX.

Sorry in advance for any inconvenience this may cause.

Thanks for your patience and understanding during this transition.

Social Engineering Red Flags

PDF 0-day Vulnerability

Last week, Adobe warned customers that a few new exploits that target Acrobat Reader were being exploited in the wild. Keep an eye out for patches that are expected soon. The exploits are particularly nasty, as they use a new blackhat technique to escape the sandbox technology used in reader. The irony is that this sandbox was created to prevent the impact of vulnerabilities such as these. PLEASE BE VERY CAUTIOUS BEFORE you open any PDF you did not ask for. Link: http://www.adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa13-02.html

The link below is a Social Engineering Red Flag document (yes, ironically it -is- a PDF) with the 22 Red Flags you need to watch out for. It contains Kevin Mitnick's 30+ year hacking experience distilled into one page you can stick on the wall!
Link: https://s3.amazonaws.com/knowbe4.cdn/SocialEngineeringRedFlags.pdf

Source: CyberheistNews - http://www.knowbe4.com/cyberheist-news/

E-Mail upgrade and downtime

We are writing to inform you that we will be upgrading our e-mail system during our Spring Break.  Our system will be upgraded from Microsoft’s Live@EDU system to their latest product, Office365.  Some of the benefits will be:

·         Mailbox size (quota) will increase from 10GB to 25GB (2.5 times the current storage)

·         You will have access to Word, Excel and other Office applications online

·         Access to SharePoint Online to allow online collaboration

·         Your e-mail address will NOT change

·         Your password will NOT change

This change is necessary due to Microsoft’s requirements and end of support announcement for its Live@EDU product.  Our upgrade timing was selected to utilize funding available from Microsoft and minimize the financial and business impact at UNA. Also, as time draws near to the upgrade, we will send reminders regarding this outage and more information regarding the upgrade itself.  For information regarding Office365, you can view our web site at http://www.una.edu/its/office365/index.html.

This downtime will begin on Friday, March 22, 2013 at 4:30PM and may last throughout our Spring Break.  During this time, your UNA e-mail WILL NOT be available via any method (UNAPortal, outlook.com, Outlook or other client on your computer, smart phones, tablets, etc.).  If you will require e-mail communication with individuals during that time, please notify them and provide an alternate e-mail address for them to use.

During the upgrade, please monitor the UNA website (www.una.edu), UNA’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/northalabama), UNA’s Twitter account (https://twitter.com/north_alabama) and the UNAPortal Login Page (http://unaportal.una.edu) for updates.  We will attempt to keep you up-to-date via these outlets as progress is made.

If you have any questions regarding this update, please send an e-mail to helpdesk@una.edu.

Scheduled Phone Outage

ITS is scheduling the last phase of the new phone system implementation on March 25th thru March 27th.  This will require ITS to take the phone system offline during this time.  Once this process has been completed we will be able to shutdown and remove the old PBX. 

Sorry in advance for any inconvenience this may cause. 

Thanks for your patience and understanding during this transition.

Randall Phifer