Thank you to our full-time and student staff for getting AV systems ready for the fall semester!

Much of our campus community slows down a bit over the summer session while students are working, interning, or at home with family and friends. For the Audio-Visual (AV) teams, the summer is the busiest time of the year because classrooms are available for upgrades!

In preparation for the fall semester, the Operations and Design & Engineering teams completed several major projects, including comprehensive classroom evaluations, new system installations and programming, and upgrades to existing technology. 

Comprehensive System Evaluation 

The AV Operations team meticulously checked 203 technology-enabled classrooms throughout the summer session. Once rooms were checked, the team repaired or replaced any aging or broken equipment, completed firmware updates, and did a final operational check before the fall semester began. This involved assessing various components of each AV system across:

·        91 Registrar Scheduled Classrooms and Lecture Halls

·        36 Departmental Classrooms

·        76 Webex Conference Rooms

This proactive initiative aims to enhance the experience for students, faculty, and staff as they return to campus. Key systems that underwent scrutiny included the review of Fall 23 - Spring 24 Request Tracker (RT) tickets for potential issues, full operational tests of AV systems, testing of lecture capture and HyFlex systems, firmware updates, and the repair or replacement of non-functional items. 

Additionally, remote AV system monitoring has been implemented in 142 locations, encompassing a total of 967 devices. This capability enables staff to identify offline systems swiftly and investigate proactively ahead of reported issues.

Wifi-based Assistive Listening in Lecture Halls

This summer also saw the introduction of Wifi-based Assistive Listening in all lecture halls, allowing users to receive room audio directly on their personal devices via the Listen Everywhere application. Radio-frequency (RF) receivers have been available for some time in large classrooms and lecture halls, but the new advantages do not require users to retrieve and return earbuds and receivers for every lecture hall they visit.

Design & Engineering 

The AV Design & Engineering team works through the fall and spring semesters completing new system designs for Registrar classrooms, departmental classrooms and lab spaces, and conference rooms. The majority of these new systems are installed, configured, and programmed by full-time staff and the student installation team through the summer semester. 

New Systems Installed in Summer 2024 include:

• Full Classroom Technology Upgrades in 4 Registrar locations, including:

• Lecture Hall 1, PUP206, PAHB132, PAHB234

• Army ROTC House

• Smokeless Range, video conferencing systems, and wireless collaboration systems

• 4 Visual Arts Classrooms

• 3 Biology laboratory spaces

• Physics Astronomy laboratory space

• CAHSS classroom space in Fine Arts

• UMBC Training Center for CNMS 

• Admissions classroom/conference room 

• Parking Services Conference Room & Digital Signage for new location in 900 Walker

• Webex Room Kit Systems for Geography & Environmental Systems and CAHSS

• Digital Signage for the AOK Library and Computer Science & Electrical Engineering (CSEE)

Update the Operating System (OS)

Install operating system updates on all of your devices as soon as possible. Attackers won’t wait so neither should you!

Update Anti-Virus (AV)

Keep your anti-virus up-to-date so it can help keep you safe.

Update Software

Make sure all applications and software are updated and patched against known vulnerabilities. **Patches are pushed automatically to DoIT-Managed devices.**

Keep Software Up to Date with 3 Simple Steps

1. Watch for notifications

Our devices will usually notify us that we need to run updates. This includes our devices’ operating systems, programs, and apps. It’s important to install ALL updates, especially for our web browsers and antivirus software. 

2. Install updates as soon as possible

When notified about software updates, especially critical updates, we should be sure to install them as soon as possible. Malicious online criminals won’t wait, so we shouldn’t either!   

3. Turn on automatic updates

With automatic updates, our devices will install updates without any input from us as soon as the update is available—Easy! 

To turn on the automatic updates feature, look in the device’s settings, possibly under Software or Security. Search settings for “automatic updates” if needed.

Source: https://www.cisa.gov/secure-our-world/update-software

Congratulations to our Graduating students in the Division of Information Technology Class of Spring 2024

We're so happy for you! Celebrate your accomplishments and keep on shining! Congratulations on your momentous accomplishment!

This past summer, the UMBC Security Student Team made a significant discovery regarding compromised accounts, predominantly affecting alumni. In a series of alarming events, fraudulent Google forms were sent to users, threatening account deactivation unless they provided their usernames and passwords.

What Happened?

Initial investigations began when the student security team looked into a compromised account that had been disseminating phishing emails. They unearthed a troubling pattern during their probe: numerous password reset emails were shared across multiple accounts. This revelation led to the identification of many login failures from specific IP addresses, raising concerns that unauthorized individuals had access to these accounts.

Left to right: Ben Guest, William Brooks, Ouwen Dai, and Anna Plass

Investigative Steps

To contain the security event, the team collaborated with the Division of Information Technology’s full-time Security staff. Their first course of action was to lock and scramble the compromised accounts. Additionally, they proactively contacted affected users, urging them to create new passwords.

The security team also implemented a more structured approach to tracking the issue. They developed a shared spreadsheet to monitor affected users and created two Splunk dashboards to analyze abnormal user behavior and investigate suspicious IP traffic.

Key Learnings

Through this challenging experience, the student team realized the immense value of utilizing advanced tools and dashboards for efficient data retrieval and quicker identification of hacking attempts. Notably, the team credited DUO, a multifactor authentication (MFA) tool, with preventing many accounts from being compromised, highlighting the significance of robust security measures.

This ordeal also underscored the importance of up-to-date documentation and reporting, ultimately enhancing their understanding of UMBC’s authentication process.

Looking Ahead

With these steps, the UMBC Security Student Team is committed to safeguarding users from future hacking attempts, demonstrating the vital role of vigilance and innovation in cybersecurity.

If you have any questions about whether or not the mail you've gotten is legitimate, please contact the DoIT Security Department at security@umbc.edu. 

For more information about UMBC’s cybersecurity initiatives, go to doit.umbc.edu/security.

Ouwen Dai shares his experiences as a computer science student with a focus on cybersecurity and his work as a Security Analyst at DoIT. He highlights the importance of practical experience and the opportunity to connect coursework with work opportunities in college. Ouwen emphasizes the detective nature of cybersecurity work and encourages new students to seek help and engage fully in their learning process.

Passion for Cybersecurity

He discusses his passion for cybersecurity, likening it to detective work. Ouwen enjoys solving puzzles and believes his interest in technology made cybersecurity an ideal field for him.

Experience at DoIT

Ouwen describes his time at DoIT as enriching, due to direct exposure to various tools that are relevant to the cybersecurity industry. He believes that this hands-on experience is crucial for his future career.

Advice for New Students

Ouwen advises new students not to hesitate to reach out for help. He emphasizes that college is a unique time for learning, and combining coursework with work experience can provide a competitive edge upon graduation.

Future Career Aspirations

Looking ahead, Ouwen aims to continue working in the cybersecurity field, with interests in defense contracting, startups, and penetration testing.

Click here to watch the full video!

For more information about UMBC’s cybersecurity initiatives, go to doit.umbc.edu/security.

Thank you Dustin Roddy, Manager of UMBC’s New Media Studio, for this great video!

What is multi-factor authentication?

Multi-factor authentication adds a second layer of security to your online accounts. Verifying your identity using an additional factor (like your phone or other mobile device) prevents anyone but you from logging in, even if they know your password.

This additional factor of authentication is separate and independent from your username and password — Duo never sees your password.

How It Works

1. Enter username and password as usual

2. Use your phone to verify your identity

3. Securely log in

Why do I need this?

Passwords are surprisingly easy to compromise. They can often be stolen, guessed, or hacked — you might not even know someone is accessing your account. Multi-factor authentication helps keep your account secure even if your password is compromised. With Duo Push, you'll be alerted immediately (on your phone) if someone is trying to log in as you.

What services are supported by Duo?

Duo has apps for iOS and Android. Duo also allows you to authenticate using SMS passcodes sent to your cell phone, hardware tokens, or via a phone call (faculty/staff only). Duo is checked whenever you authenticate using WebAuth or myUMBC. This also applies to systems such as PeopleSoft and services such as Box, Microsoft Office, VPN, and Google Apps (Drive).  Those who are identified as having access to sensitive data are administratively enrolled in Duo.

What should you do if you receive a Duo push notification that you didn’t initiate?

If you receive a Duo push notification that you didn’t initiate, DO NOT APPROVE IT! Instead, mark it as fraudulent and change your password on a trusted machine. 

We are excited to announce that Regina Clowser, Dan Loftus, and Tim Boyle are the recipients of the October Gritty Award!

The Division of Information Technology’s Gritty Award recognizes the outstanding work within the Division and the positive impact individuals have on the campus. 

After over four years of dedicated effort, the legacy Rolm phones on campus have all been successfully replaced with new Cisco VoIP phones. This remarkable achievement began in 2018 with a pilot program at IMET, which gained momentum during the 2020 pandemic to address the urgent need for remote and hybrid work solutions.

Regina and her team meticulously collaborated with every academic and administrative department, not only documenting and inventorying existing phones but also facilitating a smooth transition to the new system. This process involved working closely with departments to assess their future needs and promoting the adoption of the Webex softphone. This thoughtful approach provided departments with tailored phone solutions and saved the campus thousands of dollars in unnecessary phone handsets.

Congratulations Regina, Dan, Tim, and their team of students for their outstanding commitment to the campus community!

1. Use Unique Passwords: 

• UMBC requires all students and staff to have a strong password for their account to help keep it secure. Find the UMBC requirements for creating strong passwords here.

2. Do Not Reuse Passwords:

• Use different secure passwords for all of your personal, banking, and UMBC accounts. If one password were to appear in a data breach that you actively use in other accounts, attackers may try to use this password to access these accounts.

• A password manager can be used to manage your different passwords easily. For an additional level of security for sensitive accounts, you can store part of the password in the password manager and add additional characters to the password when you are logging in. 

3. Do Not Use Similar Passwords:

• When changing your password, UMBC will not let you use a password that has been previously set.

• Refrain from using your old passwords and slightly modifying them. For example, if your previous password was D0gL0vEr1, do not change the new password to D0gL0vEr2. This makes it easier for the hacker to guess the new password if they already know the previous password.

For more information about UMBC’s cybersecurity initiatives, go to doit.umbc.edu/security.