Phishing Email Update

As was featured in last week’s newsletter, you may have received some bounce back messages when trying to send email. We experienced a lingering issue with email being delivered to some people, particularly on the IHL network (other schools, IHL, governmental agencies, etc).  This was a direct result of the phishing emails that were responded to about a week ago.  (Reminder: Never Respond!)

During this process, Barracuda (the same SPAM filtering device that IHL and DSU and many other agencies use) activated an additional level of blacklisting that over rode the blacklisting on the national lists.  If your server was seen to be the cause of some email spamming and blacklisted, Barracuda automatically put you on a list that would protect other Barracuda customers from receiving email from your server.  IHL and DSU both use a Barracuda server, so although the issue had been resolved in about 90% of the cases, the Barracuda rating kept our mail from being delivered to these agencies.  Network Services worked closely with Barracuda, IHL, and other schools and governmental agencies to get the issue resolved and were successful.

If you tried to send mail and received a bounce back message, try again and see if you are successful.  You should not encounter problems.  If you do, contact us at 4444 immediately and we will investigate.

Thanks to all of you and your patience as we worked to troubleshoot the issue with IHL to get full resolution.  The ongoing SPAM and Phishing war is always interesting, and something new appears every day.  Rest assured, I have spoken to the CIO’s at the other IHL’s in the state, and they are fighting the same battle!!

Summer FTI is a GO!

The Summer Faculty Technology Institute (FTI) cohort is "on" for early August (August 7, 8, 11 and 12, from 8 am to 12 noon daily)--and the cohort is: Tanya McKinney, Biology; Marcus Steele, Chemistry; Talbot Brooks, GIS; Paul Starkey, Business; Jeannie Falkner, Social Work; Leslie Horton, Mathematics; Lacey Blessitt, Nursing; and Miriam Davis, History. For more information, visit: ELN Institutes.

Meet our Newest Employee

We are pleased to announce that Murat Gur has joined the OIT Team!  Most of you know Murat as he has been essential part of our student tech group during his four years at DSU.  Murat brings a broad depth of skills and experience to the campus, and is very involved in the campus and community.  Please join us in welcoming Murat to the OIT Team!

ASK OIT? Your Questions Answered by OIT Staff

 askoit@deltastate.edu

How do I get an account for a new staff or faculty member?

Prior to the first day of employment, the supervisor should have the employee complete their account application via Account Application or the copy they receive from HR.  OIT must have a supervisor signature on this form before an account can be established.

Submitting this prior to the first day of employment allows OIT to get all of the accounts and information setup prior to their first full-day of employment.  Otherwise, there might be a delay in the ability to get into the technical systems on their first day!

Why can’t I “see” my Blackboard course?

If you've received an email or telephone call from your students who reported that they could not "see" their courses in Blackboard-CE6, please note that the “snafu” resulted when courses scheduled from June 2 to July 31 were affiliated (in Banner) with a term (Summer 1) that ran from June 2 to June 30. Hence, the course expired on the last day of the term (June 30) exactly as the system indicated.  For a short term fix, the term has been extended in Blackboard-CE6 to allow those courses to go through July 31; however these courses are still officially associated with the Summer I term.

Similarly, Summer II Term courses became available on July 2nd (the first date of the Summer II Term).