IT Services

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Epsilon’s security system was breached. Epsilon is an online marketer that many firms contract with to handle their corporate email communications.  Files containing the first names, last names and email addresses were accessed without authorization. You may have received emails from some companies you do business with that they are customers of Epsilon, e.g., TIAA-CREF, Verizon, Capital One Financial, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Best Buy, Walgreens, Hilton, Marriott, etc.

Since Epsilon does not have access to customer account information, only names and addresses were accessed. The fear is this information will be used in “phishing” methods to get account information from individuals. It is always good practice to disregard unsolicited, requests for personal or account information. If in doubt, call the requesting company on the company’s published phone number, not a website or phone number included in an email message.

Below are some additional precautions we recommend you follow:

• Do not give your user ID or password in email.
• Do not respond to emails that require you to enter personal or financial information directly into the email.
• Do not reply to emails asking you to send personal information.
• Do not respond to emails threatening to close your account if you do not provide personal information

LVC IT Services will never ask for your username and/or password on the phone or via email. Periodically you may receive emails regarding server storage quota limits or a request to change your password when the password is about to expire. Feel free to contact the IT Services Help Desk at 717.867.6072 or helpdesk@lvc.edu if you have any questions.

If you would like additional information, please see: Targeted nature of email breach worries experts | pennlive.com.

Employee Email, Tips, Viruses email, malware, outlook, passwords, security, spam, tips

Protection Center - Windows Live OneCare safety scanner

“Keep hackers and unwanted software at bay and learn about some quick ways to keep your PC secure.”

“How safe is your PC?
Use our free protection scan to check for and remove viruses, spyware, and other potentially unwanted software and to find vulnerabilities in your Internet connection.”

Use the link above to download and install the Windows Live OneCare Safety Scanner.

Viruses, Tips virus, spyware, malware

For the past two years, the College has used the Sophos Anti-virus program on all College-owned computers to protect against malware such as computer viruses, worms, spyware, adware, etc. Over the course of this summer, the College will be converting from Sophos to Microsoft Forefront for malware protection on all Windows PCs. More information will be forthcoming on malware protection for Macintosh computers. 

Microsoft Forefront will be installed via an automated process on all College-owned computers. If your computer prompts for a reboot after Forefront is installed you can either restart the computer immediately or postpone the restart to a more convenient time. After Forefront has been successfully installed, Sophos will be removed from the computer. 

As part of this process, all College-owned computers will now automatically receive Windows and other Microsoft updates from a local LVC update server. This will ensure that College-owned computers have the latest Windows and Microsoft patches and security updates as well as up-to-date malware definitions. 

If you have any questions or need assistance, please feel free to contact the IT Services Help Desk at 717.867.6072. Also, remember to check out the IT Services Helpdesk and Solutions Center for technology articles, online resources, and training materials. You can also sign-up to be notified when new items are posted, or suggest a new topic. 

Thank you,
Mike Zeigler
Director of Client Services
IT Services

SPAM, Tips, Viruses

How to diagnose and defeat the dangerous Conficker worm

"If your computer has Sophos Antivirus installed either by LVC or installed from the LVC antivirus website you will not be affected by this worm."

From Microsoft: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/962007

If your computer is infected with this worm, you may not experience any symptoms, or you may experience any of the following symptoms:

• Account lockout policies are being tripped.
• Automatic Updates, Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS), Windows Defender, and Error Reporting Services are disabled.
• Domain controllers respond slowly to client requests.
• The network is congested.
• Various security-related Web sites cannot be accessed.

The USA Today posted a great article on March 26th that helps you identify the Conficker worm.

Read the full article.

For LVC information about Viruses and Spyware software see: http://www.lvc.edu/it-services/viruses.aspx

Viruses virus, worm, security, network, internet