2FA required for all accounts by end of 2021
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is applied to all new McGill student and staff accounts as of January last year. Since May of 2020, remote access to McGill systems through the Virtual Private Network (VPN), also requires 2FA.
To promote a safer online environment and ensure protected access to all systems, McGill is joining higher education institutions around the world in implementing 2FA. 2FA will be required for ALL McGill accounts by the end of 2021.
Announcing Secure your journey - McGill's cybersecurity awareness campaign
Secure your journey is McGill’s cybersecurity awareness campaign.
Its goal is to influence the adoption of best practices throughout the community to protect McGill’s data and systems as well as our own information.
At McGill, we are all on a journey. Although we may each work towards different goals during our time here, we all have one thing in common: Each one of us needs to stay safe from beginning to end.
Enforced Windows system updates
On February 1, 2020, IT Services will begin enforcing restarts for all IT-managed Windows systems with pending updates.
Skype for Business service end of life – switch to MS Teams
Support for Skype for Business will be ending by summer 2021. For communications with McGill parties, including text messaging, audio and video calls, virtual meetings and filesharing, we recommend using Microsoft Teams.
For anyone currently using Skype for Business to make phone calls, we will soon be announcing plans for a new softphone solution. Stay tuned for further announcements in the coming weeks.
Gift card phishing scam: "Can you do me a favor?"
What is the gift card scam?You may receive an email that looks like it comes from one of your coworkers, saying something like: "Can you do me a favor?"
If you reply, the next email asks you to purchase a gift card on their behalf. The message may say they need the card immediately, but they are too busy to do it, and they will pay you back as soon as possible.
These emails are not legitimate. They are being sent by malicious entities who are impersonating people in your contacts list to gain your trust and exploit you. These kinds of fraudulent emails, known as "phishing", attempt to gain your trust in order to access your personal and/or credit card information, or to get money (in the form of gift cards).
DO NOT click any links or reply to such messages. Delete these emails immediately!
IT Services Webinar
New to McGill? IT Services have much to offer! Get an overview of many of the services available to you as a new member of our McGill community by checking out this webinar (from last Fall’s virtual orientation event). Our IT experts walk you through many of the important services you may seek throughout your journey at McGill.
Flash player end of life December 31, 2020
Adobe has been announcing the end of support for Flash since 2017. As of December 31, 2020, Adobe will no longer distribute the Flash Player; no updates or security patches will be issued, and Flash will not be supported on web browsers. The company recommends that all users uninstall Flash Player before the EOL date. See the official announcement from Adobe.
Hoodie contest winners - Cybersecurity awareness month
Congratulations to Gavin Goodwin and Zéphir Lorne, the two lucky winners of the “Stay sharp to stay safe” contest! Each will receive a McGill hoodie.
331 students and staff participated in the contest by completing our cybersecurity awareness quiz, with 90% earning the minimum score to be entered in the draw for the hoodies.
Which questions gave people the most trouble?
New Cisco AnyConnect for VPN supports macOS Big Sur
A new version of Cisco AnyConnect Mobility Client is now available to support macOS Big Sur (macOS 11).
Cisco AnyConnect is used to access McGill's virtual private network (VPN), which allows you to connect from home or off-campus to protected internal resources, such as the uPrint system, Workday, Banner and desktop computers on campus.
Sustainable search engine: Plant trees while learning and working remotely
As part of McGill’s responsibility to address the urgency of climate change, the Office of Sustainability and IT Services have collaborated to bring Ecosia, a search engine that plants trees, to McGill. We encourage students, staff, faculty and alumni to install the Ecosia extension to contribute to reforestation initiatives across the globe.
UPDATE: Brand new fleet of uPrint machines 80 % deployed
We are happy to announce that 80% of uPrint machines have been replaced by new Xerox Altalink color printers. The remaining 20 % of these machines will be replaced in May 2021.
Read about uPrint campus printing in the IT Knowledge Base.
Original message posted September 8, 2020
New fall photo on McGill signin page
We have changed up the photo on the McGill signin page... here's hoping for another few weeks of autumn!
Increased cybersecurity incidents – resources to help you stay safe and informed
In the wake of numerous cybersecurity incidents affecting public organizations and close partners to McGill University, IT services encourages you to learn more about ransomware and how to protect against it:
myCourses now supports two-factor authentication (2FA)
Starting on November 1st, 2020, myCourses Learning Management System will support two-factor authentication (2FA), the security standard for authentication across universities and business sectors.
SPSS now available to students for home use
SPSS statistics software is now available for students to download and install on their personal computers!
SPSS has always been available to faculty and staff members, and was previously only available to students in computer labs on campus.
The expansion of our license to include home use by students is especially welcome as we are all working and studying remotely. SPSS may not be used for commercial purposes.
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