Beginning Monday, Jan. 16, Windows 7 devices will no longer be permitted to connect to the UA campus network. As a reminder, Windows 7 reached end of life on Jan. 14, 2020. All Windows devices should be running Windows 10 or Windows 11.
Join the OIT Security Team Thursday, Oct. 20 at 12:00pm for a virtual Town Hall Meeting.
Ransomware is a term you’ve seen a lot in the news lately, but do you know how to protect yourself, your computer and your sensitive information from a ransomware attack? Join the OIT Security Team Thursday, Oct. 20 at 12pm for a virtual Town Hall Meeting to ask questions of the team and learn how to be cyber secure.
UA CISO Taylor Anderson will provide a brief presentation on cybersecurity practices at UA and offer tips on how you can protect sensitive information. The team will then answer questions from the audience! Email victoria.collins@ua.edu to submit a question to the team in advance! More information about the event is available on the UA Events Calendar.
The Town Hall will be held on Microsoft Teams.
Effective Monday, October 10, the Office of Information Technology will begin automated patch management for OIT Supported Windows Workstations using PatchMyPC (PMPC). Using PMPC, OIT can update supported applications on UA machines, preventing applications from sitting dormant and possibly leaving vulnerabilities open.
Updates will be automated and will run as computers detect available updates. User’s applications that are closed and not in use will be updated in the background without the user noticing. Any application that a user has open but has not updated will trigger a PMPC “conflict” pop-up on the bottom right corner of the screen that looks like this:
The pop-up will provide clear instructions for updating the opened application. Users will be given the name of the application that is trying to update, how many times the update has been postponed, how long they have until the update is postponed if they do not answer, and two options of “Close All and Update” or “Snooze Update”. If the user does not respond in the time that is given, then the update is automatically postponed. If the user has previously postponed the update three times, and does not respond to the pop-up, PMPC will automatically close the application and update it.
If an update closes a user’s browser and multiple open tabs, the users can press Ctrl+Shift+T simultaneously to open previously opened tabs in the updated browser.
Automated patch management for all UA-net devices will take place later this year. Users will receive further communications prior to that implementation.
Effective September 19, Duo two-factor authentication will be required for remote desktop connections to all OIT managed Windows workstations.
Users logging in to a Windows computer in-person will not be affected by this change, only those who are accessing their workstation remotely will be required to use Duo to log in.
UA users no longer have access to Adobe Sign Individual via the Adobe Sign tool in Acrobat DC. Adobe removed Adobe Sign Individual from campus license agreements renewed after 2020. UA users should use DocuSign as an alternative e-signature solution. Request for DocuSign should be made to the IT Service Desk at itsd@ua.edu.
Effective August 29, 2022, UA Adobe Creative Cloud accounts will include 85% of Adobe Stock content! UA students, faculty and staff can now use Adobe Stock content including images, videos, templates and more! Some users may receive emails or pop-ups within their Adobe product regarding upgrading or renewing their license; UA students, faculty and staff should disregard these communications and simply log out and log back in to access all of the Adobe Creative Cloud tools. Visit adobe.ua.edu for more information.
Join OIT for a kick-off event on the Quad Sept. 12 from 12:00 – 4:00 pm. as part of the 2022 Adobe Celebration Week, Sept. 12-16. All week we’ll feature guest presenters and host workshops focused around the Adobe Creative Cloud Tools.
During the 2022 Adobe Celebration Week, we’ll dive into new Adobe offerings that utilize some of the most exciting trends in emerging technology: interactive design, on-the-go video storytelling, and more. As a reminder, Adobe Creative Cloud is available to all UA students, faculty and staff. This event is designed to spur creativity and encourage the use of Adobe Creative Cloud software across campus. We hope you’ll join us!
See a full list of the 2022 Adobe Celebration Week events and virtual workshops!
OIT’s ticketing system is currently unavailable. There will be a delay in responses to email and voicemail requests.
Saturday, Aug. 13, OIT made a few enhancements to the myBama portal. Login to see the following changes.
UA students, faculty and staff can log into myBama at myBama.ua.edu.
On Sunday, Aug. 21 OIT will be making a change to the K2 process automation system. K2 is used for many UA processes including electronic personnel action forms, MVR forms, the UA educational benefit form, and others.
Currently, K2 emails are sent from K2usrp@fa.ua.edu. After Sunday Aug. 21, K2 emails will be sent from k2prod@ua.edu. If users have any email rules set up to monitor for K2 emails, please change them to reflect this new address.
