Monday, July 6, 2009:
Word - Basic Skills, 9:00 a.m., ADSB 154

Tuesday, July 7, 2009:
Introduction to SAS Enterprise Guide, 10:00 a.m., ADSB 154
Photoshop, 10:30 a.m., GIBX

Wednesday, July 8, 2009:
Peer to Peer (Closed Session), 8:30 a.m., ADSB 154

Thursday, July 9, 2009:
Introduction to Excel, 10:00 a.m., ADSB 154
SharePoint Overview, 2:00 p.m., ADSB 154

http://uits.uark.edu/train

Email phishing scams continue to pelt the University of Arkansas with fraudulent messages meant to trick email users into replying with sensitive information such as UARK passwords.  The latest scam (phishing) message appears to be a virus warning. 

Campus mail servers have detected that the message was suspicious and tagged the fraudulent email with {SPAM?} to alert readers.  Information Technology Services (ITS) recommends that users who receive this message delete it immediately.

ITS asks all University of Arkansas email users to remember that the University of Arkansas will NEVER send messages asking for account passwords or other sensitive information.  ITS will send periodic password change reminders to all users instructing them to go to http://passweb.uark.edu, a secure web site owned and operated by the University of Arkansas. 

For questions or concerns, please contact the IT Security Office at security@uark.edu or call the ITS Help Desk at 575-2905.

During the past week, the University of Arkansas (along with many other institutions) has been a target of fake ("phishing") email offers/warnings. These messages are considered malicious, designed to "trick" users into sending sensitive information, such as UARK Account passwords to spammers.

IT Services recommends that all students, faculty and staff delete these messages immediately.

IT Services Security has already received numerous emails reporting a message wherein the sender asks for passwords and other personal information as a part of supposed maintenance.

Users are urged to remember that the University of Arkansas IT Services will NEVER send a message to users asking for their account passwords. If a user should receive something like this that appears to originate from IT Services (or from a bank or similar organizations), users are asked to be aware that it is most likely a scam artist attempting access to user accounts. As a result, IT Services will send out notices to remind users to change their password every 90 days (approximately once a semester) using PASSweb, located at www.uark.edu/passweb.

For questions, comments or concerns, contact the IT Security office via email (security@uark.edu) or the Help Desk at 479-575-2905.

As a result of campus-wide interest in differing technology issues, Information Technology Services (ITS) has reserved a room for a series of TechTalk Brown Bag Lunches from May through December, 2009, to discuss general technology issues and services.  
 
Each TechTalk Brown Bag Lunch will be held on the second Tuesday of the month (beginning May 12, 2009) in the Arkansas Union, room 312NW, from 12:00 p.m. until 1:00 p.m.  Participants may bring a lunch to eat during the Brown Bag.  (Please note that TechTalk Brown Bag Lunches will not be held in the months of June, August, and September.)

Topics of interest that have been proposed include the new “green” policy, Altiris 7.0, a digital repository, SharePoint usage, and other technology-specific issues.  
 
A TechTalk Brown Bag Lunch is an hour for discussion and collaboration designed for students, faculty and staff to share ideas, comments or concerns regarding any technology topics related to services at the University of Arkansas.  The agenda of each TechTalk Brown Bag is set by the participants who attend, based on concerns or issues brought to the event.  
 
Those wanting to participate in TechTalk Brown Bag Lunches are encouraged to mark their calendars for the second Tuesday of each month, with the exception of the months named above. TechTalk Brown Bag Lunches will also be scheduled on the University events calendar for future reference of dates.

Information Technology Services (ITS) has designed a workshop for new University of Arkansas employees.  The workshop, Technology at the University of Arkansas, provides an overview of the services and resources provided by ITS.  Technology at the University of Arkansas is also available to other faculty and staff interested in ITS.

Participants will be introduced to such services as antivirus software, email, web publishing, data services, webBASIS, and the MultiMedia Resource Center.  The workshop will include lecture combined with demonstration, and discussion.

Several workshops are scheduled May through July, 2009.  Registration and a full schedule are available online at http://uits.uark.edu/train.  Click "Calendar" on the left for a monthly view of all ITS Workshops.

For questions, comments or concerns, please contact the ITS Help Desk at 575-2905.

In an effort to provide a campuswide site license for Mathematica software, IT Services is asking faculty who might be interested in utilizing the software to email Ling Ting at ting@uark.edu.

Network license options for college and department levels, as well as a campus-wide site-license option will be available for faculty and staff if enough interest is shown. Again, those faculty interested in one or more of these options are asked to email Ling Ting (ting@uark.edu) for more information.

For IT assistance, questions or comments, faculty may also phone the IT Help Desk at 575-2905.

The Department of IT Services (ITS) is in the process of evaluating alternative options for student email.  The University's original UA Mail, Microsoft's Live@edu, and Google Apps are being considered for the official student email client.  All students are encouraged to participate in an informal poll by going to http://googleapps.uark.edu. 

ITS is seeking out the opinions of currently enrolled students, as student poll results will play a significant role in the email evaluation process.  This email evaluation period will end in the first week of May, 2009.  Faculty members are encouraged to let students know about this opportunity to weigh in on the future of UA student email by going to http://googleapps.uark.edu.

For questions, comments or concerns, please contact the ITS Help Desk by phoning 575-2905.

Information Technology Services (ITS) has discontinued services for Symantec AntiVirus v10.x and earlier as of Wednesday, April 15th, 2009. The ITS management server will no longer update computers still running the older versions, however LiveUpdate will continue to be available from Symantec.

Symantec AntiVirus 11 is now in production and ready for use.  To access the Symantec 11 downloads page, simply go to http://security.uark.edu, and click the “Symantec Security Software” link at the top left of the page.
 
Symantec AntiVirus 9.x or 10.x and Symantec Client Security 3.x users can install the new Symantec version 11 over their existing installations.  Prior versions will need to be uninstalled first.  The Symantec 11 release is compatible with 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Vista.

If you require assistance, please contact the ITS Help Desk at (479) 575-2905, or submit a help request online at http://askit.uark.edu.

The modem pool, provided by University Information Technology Services, used to support off-campus dial-up, is out of date and can no longer be repaired.  Please be advised that it is available “as is,” and if we have a failure, we may not be able to bring the service back up.  If this happens, users will need to find an alternative source for connecting to the campus network.

Users can contact the IT Help Desk for questions regarding this at 575-2905

IT Services now has an account on the micro-blogging site http://twitter.com. For information regarding ITS, go to http://twitter.com/uaits and click the 'Follow' button. Users can also search using the name "uaits."

IT Services posts many tweets, such as events, announcements, campus notifications and other important technology information for the University of Arkansas community on a regular basis. All students, faculty and staff are encouraged to log in and follow uaits on Twitter.

As well as utilizing Twitter for information, ITS also hosts a group on Facebook. Members of the University community have joined the Facebook group to get up-to-date information regarding technology on campus. To join the Facebook group, users should go to http://www.facebook.com/groups.php#/group.php?gid=47749250314.

For more information, please phone the ITS Help Desk at 575-2905.

IT Services has changed the IP address used for WINS services.  The new IP addresses are 130.184.16.52 (primary) and 130.184.16.51 (secondary). 

These changes have already been made in ITS DHCP services; however, there may be areas in which WINS addresses have been statically entered.  Users of WINS services are asked to change to the new WINS addresses as soon as possible.  The old WINS IP address (130.184.5.173) will remain available until April 6, 2009.

If a user is unfamiliar with WINS, they most likely do not need to make any changes.  For more information regarding WINS, please see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Internet_Name_Service.

For assistance, questions or concerns, please contact the ITS Help Desk at 575-2905.

University IT Services Help Desk now offers two new options for non-student users (faculty, staff, emeritus, and affiliates) who need to renew passwords that have expired under the Department of Information Services policy regarding security standards and passwords.

Two additional methods of renewing a password are available to non-student users (faculty, staff, emeritus, etc.).   All non-student renewal options are listed below:

• Go to the UITS Help Desk, ADSB 100A, Mon-Thu 7am-6pm, Fri 7am-5pm.
• Visit one of the General Access Computing Labs (GACLs) on campus with a valid photo ID (preferably a University ID), and complete an Account Renewal form with the Lab Operator on duty.   The Lab Operator will contact the Help Desk to verify the user’s account. This method may only be used during Help Desk operating hours, listed above.
• Email the following information to helpdesk@uark.edu from an alternate email address:
  • FULL name: First, Middle, Last
  • 9-digit University ID Number (NOT the 6-digit employee id number)
  • UARK email username (ex. jjoseph)
  • Supervisor’s name or Departmental Chairperson’s name
  • Phone number

For questions or concerns about the new password regulations, please call the UITS Help Desk at 575-2905, or go online to http://uits.uark.edu.

Read the full article in the UITSNEWS Archives.

University IT Services Help Desk has recently received numerous phone calls from users about UARK account password expiration.  Many UARK users are not yet aware of the new security policy enacted by the Department of Information Services of the State of Arkansas regarding security standards and passwords.

With the new security policy in place, once a password has been used for ninety days, a "friendly" email reminder is sent to the user's primary UARK account.  If the password reaches 109 days without being changed, the user will be sent a series of email reminders (one per day) for ten days.  If a password reaches 119 days, a *final* notice is sent.  Once a user’s password reaches 120 days unchanged, the account is locked. 

To have a password renewed after it has been locked, students will need to go to the registrar's office, and faculty and staff to the UITS Help Desk, ADSB 100A, Mon-Thu 7am-6pm, Fri 7am-5pm.  Discussions are currently underway to develop a convenient solution for Faculty and Staff who have to reset a password due to password expiration.

Please contact the UITS Help Desk at 575-2905 if you have questions or concerns about the legitimacy of these notices or any email you receive regarding accounts and passwords.

Please read the rest of this important notice in the UITSNEWS Archive.