IRT: News & Events: TechUpdates: November 12 2004

It's a dangerous Internet out there. Even if you haven't been infected or compromised or had your network port disabled yet, you probably know someone who has.

Hackers are working day and night to come up with a whole new class of automated compromises that seek out vulnerable systems, attack with no warning, and leave little evidence; you may not even know your computer's been hit.

However, there are things you can do to protect your computer (and yourself).

IRT is offering two workshops after the Thanksgiving break to teach you some of the tricks that will make your Windows systems safer, including answers to the following:

What is a secure password and why is it important?
What steps can you take in your daily routines?
What is spyware and how do you get rid of it?
What symptoms should you watch for? and
What do you do when your computer is compromised to get back on your feet?

Email irt.workshops@drexel.edu to sign up for one of these security workshops:

Monday, November 29, 6 p.m. - Korman Center
Wednesday, December 1, 12:30 p.m. - Korman Center

2. Dreamweaver Training Scheduled

To full-time faculty and staff. If you're dreaming about designing web pages, try out IRT's Dreamweaver training. This is one of the top-of-the-line web design tools, and the workshops include the distribution of free software. (Only faculty and staff are eligible for free software under the terms of Drexel's license).

Basic workshops have been scheduled as follows in Korman room 116:

Thursday, November 18, 2-4 p.m.
Tuesday, December 7, 2-4 p.m.
Monday, December 13, 10 a.m.-12 noon

The workshops will cover:

Understanding the Dreamweaver interface
Formatting text using cascading style sheets
Creating lists (ordered, unordered, definition, nested lists)
Working with graphics
Working with links

To register for a workshop, email irtweb@drexel.edu.

3. Outage: Moving Day on November 26

Drexel's central disk storage devices will be "moving" on the day after Thanksgiving. The reconfiguration of the Storage Area Network will require moving all the storage disks. Although the move will only be from one side of a room to the other, it will entail the disconnection of systems starting at 7 a.m. on Friday, November 26, and continuing for up to eight hours.

Many IRT-supported systems will be affected at some time during this period. This includes email, Exchange, Banner, BannerWeb, Files, the DrexelOne portal, and WebCT.

4. MyDoom Looms Again

Anti-virus software gurus warn that the MyDoom worm is coming around again, but with some new features. Whereas the old worm was contained in an email attachment, and was activated by opening the attachment, the new version directs the unwary user to visit a hyperlink which transmits the infection.

The vulnerability was reported last Friday. Within four days several exploits had been set loose. One masquerades as an order confirmation from eBay via PayPal, another purports to be from "Jane" and invites users to view webcam photos.

Beware of hyperlinks!

5. We're Unwired and Like It That Way

Drexel University, a pioneer among American universities for on-campus wireless communications, ranks among the top 100 campuses, according to an Intel Corporation survey.

Drexel was the only Philadelphia area university to make the top 100, and those rankings were made before our recent upgrade for improved speed, capacity, and coverage.

6. Whack the Password Hackers

Password cracking is still a major preoccupation among hackers, so be prepared.

Change your password frequently and choose good, strong passwords when you do it. Avoid things that can be easily guessed - your name(s), nicknames, initials, words in the dictionary, etc. Use every trick or combination of tricks you can dream up - character substitutions, foreign languages, mnemonic phrases.

The point is, you want something you can remember (pasting a post-it note to your computer is the very worst of bad ideas) but that even your best friend won't guess. So be devious, be crazy, above all be unpredictable.

If you haven't changed your password recently, do it now! Go to http://accounts.drexel.edu and Manage your accounts.

7. Capture Your Class on the Web

You have to attend a conference next week; half your class is down with the flu; several of your students are on the basketball team and will be away frequently for games.

Solution: Capture your class on the web. That way, you not only solve the scheduling problems that face any instructor sometimes, but you also give your students a superb tool for review.

Unlike videoconferencing, which is two-way in real time, this is a one-way audio and video system that can be viewed as it happens and repeated many times over from compressed archives available from the web. It plays on the student's own computer.

The technology for capture - both audio and video - is in place in all the classrooms in the Korman Center. All the technical stuff is managed behind the scenes by IRT personnel, with no learning curve on the part of the instructor. You just set up your laptop, show your slides, and give your lecture as you would in any classroom situation.

We are currently testing software that will allow us to capture a class from a remote location with network access, so you won't have to be in a Korman classroom.

For more information or to request service, contact Annette Rivera, AnnetteR@drexel.edu or 215-895-2687.

WebCT News

8. What's New in WebCT?

The next major enhancement of WebCT will be WebCT Vista, which is now under development and is currently slated for arrival at Drexel for Spring 2005. It will add many features that faculty, students, and other users have been asking for. Here are a few examples.

Enhancements to the Discussions tool: gradable topics, discussion topic categories, editable postings, students can view all their postings or all new posts at one time.
A true "student view" for instructors.
New assessment options.
Student self-enrollment in topics or groups.
People links - instructor views student performance and sends messages from multiple areas within the section.
Combined (or separate) chat and whiteboard.
Link annotations for explanatory information.
Roll-up reporting to aggregate student data from several course sections.
Printable versions of the Syllabus tool.

And lots, lots more!

9. Training for WebCT Vista

In anticipation of the upgrade to WebCT Vista, now expected for Spring term 2005, there will be two types of training.

* For New Users: WebCT Vista Boot Camps
There are monthly WebCT Vista Boot Camps, held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 116 of the Korman Computing Center, have been scheduled for the following dates:

Friday, November 19
Friday, December 17

Laptops are provided as well as lunch. Reserve your slot at webct@drexel.edu.

* For Current Users: WebCT Vista Workshops
For current WebCT CE (Campus Edition) users, there are four-hour workshops to acclimate you to the new product. These workshops will be held in Room 116 Korman Center on the following dates:

Friday, November 12, noon-4 p.m.
Friday, December 10, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

To sign up, email webct@drexel.edu.

* Departmental Training
If you would prefer to have a WebCT Vista workshop or boot camp just for your department, let us know. We'll provide the same information at a time convenient for your group. We can, if you wish, break it into shorter segments spread over several days. We can do it in Korman or in your own lab. Contact us at webct@drexel.edu.

Additional training opportunities will be scheduled for winter term.

To read previous issues of the IRT Technology Update, go to http://www.drexel.edu/irt/news/technews/

To manage your subscription options to the IRT Technology Update and other Drexel Announcements, go to http://www.drexel.edu/irt/subscriptions. If you prefer to receive a plain text version, please email your request to mailreq@drexel.edu.

Modified: February 25, 2008

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