The beta release of a new Chromebook extension for Respondus LockDown Browser is currently available for assessments in Original Blackboard courses. This version of the Chromebook extension also supports Respondus Monitor. 

Please note: This is a beta extension, which means it will have some limitations.

• It is ONLY available for Original courses/tests AND it must be enabled on a per test basis.
• Students must click on the click on the same RLDB download link as the Windows/Mac versions to obtain the extension link for installation. 
  
• Instructor-created passwords passwords for assessments are NOT currently supported. Please do NOT remove the automatically generated passcode set by Respondus to secure the test environment.
• The “Early Exit” feature in LockDown Browser isn’t currently supported.
• LockDown Browser’s Calculator and Spreadsheet features aren’t currently supported.
• The extended keyboard functions (for adding symbols and special characters) isn’t currently available.
• LockDown Browser’s internally linked “Help Center” is currently unavailable.

The how-to instructions for faculty and for students are posted to the FAQs. To report a bug/issue with the Chromebook beta, please open a support ticket with Respondus directly so your feedback is escalated with their developers. Be sure to indicate you are using LockDown Browser for Chromebook. 

At this time, the Chromebook extension does not support Ultra tests. UMBC continues to monitor development of this functionality.

As always, if you have any questions, please consider the following options:

A phishing attack urging users to download undelivered emails was reported to DoIT Security this week. Here is an example of the malicious message.

From: "umbc.edu System Administrator" <admin@secureserver.net>

Subject: You have 4 undelivered emails. Download them now

Date: 03 Sep 2020 14:40:40 +0800

Undelivered Mail Notification

Email account: (redacted)@umbc.edu

Time of error 9/3/2020 2:40:40 p.m.

Due to a recent configuration error, some of your emails have not been properly synchronized with your mailbox. Login below to clear this error and download your mails.

Download your emails

If you do not retrieve your undelivered emails now, they may be lost forever.

umbc.edu Email Server

The link to “download” undelivered emails leads to a website which prompts users to enter their UMBC credentials, potentially giving malicious actors access to victims’ UMBC accounts.

Notice the warning signs in this email. First, check the sender address, and notice that the supposed "umbc.edu System Administrator" is not using a umbc.edu address. Next, check the time and time zone of the message. The time zone UTC+0800 is used in China and parts of Australia and Russia, for example, but not anywhere that a legitimate email about your UMBC account would likely originate. Finally, be wary of unexpected emails requiring immediate action. Malicious actors try to induce panic to make victims act before thinking about the risks.

See a similar email reported at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill:

https://its.unc.edu/phish-alert/you-have-9-pending-emails-download-them-now/

If you do receive this or any other email that you suspect is a scam, please do not click on any URL or reply. Either of those actions confirms to the sender that your email address is valid. Please forward the message (with the email headers) to security@umbc.edu.

How do I forward full email headers?

https://wiki.umbc.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1867970

To read more articles published by DOIT visit: 

https://itsecurity.umbc.edu/critical/?tag=notice. 

https://itsecurity.umbc.edu/home/covid-19-news/?tag=covid19

On June 19, 2020 an online antique Marketplace, LiveAuctioneers, suffered a data breach. Approximately 3.4 million records were leaked. The records include names, email and IP addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers and passwords stored as unsalted MD5 hashes.The information was sold online and redistributed to a hacking forum. 

29 UMBC accounts were victims of this breach. The victims are being notified via their UMBC emails and/or their alternate emails. If you have a LiveAuctioneers account, please contact them to see if you have been affected by this breach. To see if you were involved in any other breach visit: https://haveibeenpwned.com/.

More about LiveAuctioneers data breach:

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/liveauctioneers-reports-data-breach-after-user-records-sold-online/

https://portswigger.net/daily-swig/liveauctioneers-data-breach-millions-of-cracked-passwords-for-sale-say-researchers

If you have any questions or concerns email us: security@umbc.edu 

Information about this breach was provided to us by Have I Been Pwned(HIBP). 

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Receive any suspicious emails?

Forward it to security@umbc.edu along with the email headers. Instructions for doing so can be found at the UMBC support wiki: https://wiki.umbc.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=1867970.

Need to set up a recovery email for your UMBC account?

Follow the instructions here: https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/itsecurity/posts/94776

OKLAHOMA SUPERCOMPUTING SYMPOSIUM 2020
    Wed Sep 30 2020, 9:00am-5:00pm Central Time
    Our first all-videoconferencing edition!
    Contact: Henry Neeman (hneeman@ou.edu)
    
    http://symposium2020.oscer.ou.edu/
    
    Please feel free to forward this to anyone who might be
    interested -- undergraduates, graduate students, faculty,
    staff, professionals, colleagues etc.
    
    If you've received this note in error, or you've
    already registered, please ignore it, or forward it to others.
    
    DETAILS:
    
    Are you interested in the FREE Oklahoma Supercomputing
    Symposium 2020 on Wed Sep 30, live via videoconferencing
    all day?
    
    SPEAKERS WILL INCLUDE:
    
    * Amy Friedlander, National Science Foundation
    Office Director (Acting), Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure
    
    * John Shalf, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
    Department Head for Computer Science
    
    * Dan Stanzione, Texas Advanced Computing Center, U Texas Austin
    Executive Director
    
    * Tom Lange, Technology Optimization & Management LLC
    
    For the 2020 Symposium, we've already had:
    
    * 50 registrations in under 15 hours;
    
    * 100 registrations in under 19 hours;
    
    * 150 registrations in less than a week;
    
    * 200 registrations in less than a month!
    
    Over the past 18 Symposia, we've had over 4500 attendees from
    127 academic institutions from 28 US states and territories,
    178 private companies, 36 government agencies (federal, state,
    municipal, foreign) and 21 non-governmental organizations.
    
    The 2019 Symposium had 175 attendees, from l7 academic
    institutions in 5 states, 11 private companies,
    8 government agencies and 3 non-governmental organizations.
    
    We'd be delighted to have you participate. It's a great way to
    learn what's happening on the advanced computing side of your
    research, teaching and professional areas.
    
    And, if you know of students -- graduate, undergraduate, community
    college, career tech, high school -- who are interested in these
    areas, this is a great opportunity to introduce them to
    conferences, especially because it's FREE.
    
    Contact:
    
    Henry Neeman (hneeman@ou.edu)
    Director, OU Supercomputing Center for Education & Research (OSCER)
    Associate Professor, Gallogly College of Engineering
    Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Computer Science
    OU Information Technology
    The University of Oklahoma