Category Archives: TechNews

What Can I Do?

Change Your Passwords.
Use complex passwords and don’t reuse passwords between your accounts! Turn-on multi-factor authentication whenever possible

Think Twice About Sharing Information.
Receive a suspicious phone call from “Tech Support”?
Your supervisor asking you to buy a gift-card because it’s an “emergency”? Never send sensitive information to people over email. No one should be asking for your password.

Beware of Links.
Check that website address before clicking the link, and don’t download attachments that you weren’t expecting. This includes links from text messages. If it looks odd, don’t click it.

Keep up-to-date; Install antivirus
Do not put-off updating those apps, especially on your phone. There could be important security updates that you are missing! Also remember to install antivirus on your own computer and keep it up to date.

Delete or unsubscribe from unused applications or subscriptions.
If you aren’t using that app, it’s probably outdated. Consider getting rid of it! Unsubscribe from mailing lists or cancel unused application subscriptions to reduce the clutter and minimize your risk profile.

See Something Say Something.
If something doesn’t look right, report it!

Secure Icon made by Alfredo Hernandez from www.flaticon.com

What Data Goes Where?

Be mindful of the data that you collect and be careful where you save that sensitive information!  Simmons grades data on a 4-point scale based on it’s risk.

Restricted is our the MOST SENSITIVE type of data and consists of:

  • Name, Address, Telephone

AND

  • Social security number or taxpayer ID
  • Financial account, credit or debit card
  • Financial/salary data
  • Driver’s license number
  • Date of birth
  • Medical or health information (e.g. HIPAA)

Refer to the Simmons Data Classification Policy on the proper ways to store and transmit sensitive files.  Regularly review who has access to your data and clean-up your authorized apps list.   Avoid the temptation to download and work on sensitive documents on your personal devices.

Secure Icon made by Alfredo Hernandez from www.flaticon.com

Social Engineering

What is Social Engineering?
Social engineering is a type of cyberattack that uses psychological manipulation to convince victims into performing actions or disclosing information.

Beware of Imposters!
An attacker may pretend to be someone else, either by phone, in-person, or via email, in order to solicit financial or personal details, or to ask that you take some action, such as completing a financial transaction or providing remote access to a computer.

It is common for attackers to impersonate tech support, charitable organizations, government agencies, banks/financial institutions, even your friends/family/coworkers!

Remember, the “From:” in an email is just like a return address on a postcard and can be forged. Be wary of interactions from people you think you know asking for gift-cards, passwords, or other personal information.  Also, be wary of any free offers, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is!

Unprecedented times…
Fraudulent activity is up 600% since COVID-19!

Phishing Icon made by Smashicons from www.flaticon.com

Who Can I Contact?

To report a Cybersecurity Incident, please contact:

Simmons Technology ServiceDesk
[email protected]

For more information about Information Security at Simmons including consultation on alignment of business processes with our Information Security policies please contact:

Richard Phung
Information Security Analyst
[email protected]

References
https://www.cisa.gov/national-cyber-security-awareness-month
https://enterprise.verizon.com/resources/reports/dbir/
https://www.ibm.com/security/data-breach
https://www.varonis.com/2019-data-risk-report/

Technology Support Support Options for Fall

As we all prepare for the Fall semester, Simmons Technology Services & Support is continuing to adapt our services to support you during these challenging times. We will continue our extended phone support hours through the Fall Semester and provide 1:1 in-person support by appointment. 

The Service Desk provides remote support via phone and email. Our extended phone support hours are:

  • Monday – Thursday: 7:30 AM – 9:00 PM
  • Friday: 7:30 AM – 7:30 PM
  • Saturday: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Support analysts can assist with a wide variety of tasks over the phone. Analysts can use a remote support tool, with your permission, to see your device remotely and troubleshoot problems that are hard to describe or resolve.

The Technology Support Center is available to assist you in person by appointment only. The appointments are scheduled in advance and intended to assist with issues such as a computer repair, replacement, or other problems that cannot be done remotely. Safety during these appointments are a top priority. We will be using PPE, maintaining safe distance, and keeping the appointment brief to minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19. Appointments can be made by contacting the Service Desk.
As always, you can call us for support at 617-521-2222, email us at [email protected], or visit our website at https://servicedesk.simmons.edu for

Simmons is moving to Workday Student!

This September, Simmons will reach the first major milestone in our Workday Student implementation.  The Workday Student project is deployed in four stages — Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum — and will roll out throughout the remainder of the academic year. Each stage delivers a new set of functionality that builds on prior work. These phases follow methodology recommended by Workday to maximize design and testing time and minimize the need for rework.  The Bronze go-live in September includes the foundational, non-transactional elements which serve as a framework for the new student information system. 

The Bronze implementation lays the foundation for the rest of the Workday Student project in production and has no immediate impact on the Simmons community’s day-to-day work.  No active transactions will be taking place and no student records will be in Workday.  This foundation allows for the Simmons community to prepare for testing of registration and other functions later this fall so that the Silver implementation in March goes smoothly. 

The Workday Student project implementation is a complex, multiyear collaboration between the Simmons Technology project team and more than 30 representatives from across the Simmons Community. Workgroups have been meeting regularly for the past 18 months to identify requirements, clean data, configure, and test the system to meet the needs of Simmons students, faculty, and staff.

Once complete, Workday Student will replace Colleague/AARC — which has been our student information system for over thirty years — with a platform that is current, flexible, highly integrated, and able to meet the Community’s changing needs.

For questions regarding the Workday Student Project, please contact Jane Ritt