I’m sure many of you have been to a Chinese restaurant that has placemats describing which year it is (the year of the horse, rabbit, etc). I’m also confident that some of you have read or heard of any certain year being designated as “the year of” something or other. I’m proposing that we unofficially consider 2011 “the year of your password.” That’s right, your password.
Mobile phones have become an indispensable part of modern life for most, with smartphones comprising close to 50% of recent phone purchases (see related article 2011: Security Trends for the New Year, The Rise of the Mobile Device). The electronic “Swiss Army knife” offers an amazing and complex blend of functions, replacing enough gadgets to fill up your backpack. It also is a prime target for thieves, whether from physical snatches, SMiShing, or malware threats.
Monty Combs has worked at Facilities Management for seven and a half years. In early 2007 he took on his current role in the newly-created position as Director of Systems & Services. In that capacity he is responsible for ensuring the availability and security of computer systems, telecommunications, and applications for FM staff; CAD (Computer Aided Design) and Plan Room operations; application and database management; and, project management of numerous IT and business process improvement projects.
Everybody uses a web browser to access the Internet. That fact alone makes the web browser a tempting target for Bad Guys who want to take over your computer and use it for their own nefarious purposes by installing malicious software, or “malware.” Why is important to know about malware?
This past December 2nd, Proofpoint and its daily spam digest were retired when Brown’s Google service began providing all spam filtering and anti-virus protection for University-addressed mail. As a result, all spam is now directed to and collected in your Spam box (located in the left navigation column within your Brown Google mail box at gmail.brown.edu).
The following is a memo sent to Brown faculty and staff from Michael Pickett, Vice President and Chief Information Officer, on Nov. 29. It is reprinted here to complement the other Google-related content in this issue of the newsletter.
The 2010/2011 academic year is the first to utilize Google Apps for Education (GAE) campus wide. GAE has brought a powerful and collaborative set of tools to Brown, including an easy way to store and share documents and data through Google Docs.
The turning of the year means it’s time to pull the crystal ball down from the shelf and do a little gazing into the future. Sifting through the predictions of several IT prognosticators revealed the following as top security concerns for 2011. In no particular order, here are some things to be particularly aware of in the coming year.
ISG offers a selection of year-at-a-glance calendars for 2011, each with a different message.
Click on the image to download a PDF file suitable for print out in color or black and white.
Over 2,000 individuals have taken the “Protecting Brown Information” class to learn what constitutes “Brown Confidential Information”; where, when and how it’s at risk; and what need to be done to mitigate that risk. Are you one of them?
Classes are held the third Wednesday of most months (sign up at the Training.brown.edu site) and also also available online for those unable to attend in person.
Outages & Alerts