RESOLVED: Major STM system failure prevents students from renewing OPUS cards in Minerva
The STM has reported that the online student card renewal is currently in progressive return. Students will now be able to renew their OPUS cards in Minerva.
Previous message posted November 2, 2020
UPDATE: Major STM system failure prevents students from renewing OPUS cards in Minerva
Minerva/ Banner/ uApply/ myProgress monthly downtime for December
Minerva, Banner, uApply (the Graduate Admissions System) and myProgress (degree progress tracking) will be unavailable from Saturday, December 5 at 10 pm to Sunday, December 6 at 2 am, during scheduled monthly maintenance. See all scheduled monthly downtimes for these systems.
Bitcoin extortion email scam - contact IT Service Desk
Watch out for emails that claim they have stolen your password and hacked into your your computer to "watch" you and record your data. They typically threaten to send videos of you watching porn to your contacts unless you "pay up" by transferring bitcoin into an account. You can view an example below.
If you receive such an email, please...
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We are happy to announce that 80% of uPrint machines have been replaced by new Xerox Altalink color printers.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.
IT Projects delivered over summer 2020
Find out what you may have missed...Despite working from home, IT Services has proven we can be just as productive, if not more! Since April 2020, we have released over 25 new and updated services. Some were driven by the need to quickly ramp up for remote learning and collaboration, while others were scheduled long before COVID-19 and social distancing came into our lives.
D2 upgrade completed: New plugin and recommended browsers
The D2 upgrade has been completed successfully!
IMPORTANT NOTE: The first time you sign into D2, you may see a spinning D2 logo; refresh your browser by holding down the Ctrl and function-F5 keys.
Original announcement (September 24, 2020)
Event: True (cyber) crime McGill
Cybercrime. It could never happen here, could it? Ah, but it does, and more often than we’d like. Join IT Services on October 21 for an online lunch hour session filled with stories of cybercrimes committed at McGill and elsewhere - both the heinous and the hilarious. The stories you will hear are true. Only the names will be changed to protect the innocent. Pick up some handy tips for staying safe online and help prevent similar incidents from happening to you.
Virtual Fair for students: recording now available!
Thank you for your participation in IT Services Virtual Fair for students held on September 17, 2020. Watch our expert-led webinar to learn more about the services offered to students.
We also invite you to visit https://mcgill.ca/it/students.
UPDATE: Register and connect a Wi-Fi device with an assigned password
Update: September 18, 2020On September 30, 2020 IT IT Services will be decommissioning the residences' Wi-Fi network rez.mcgill.ca. It has been replaced with the improved service My Wifi Device (see full details in the message, below).
