Message from the VP of IT |  | |
Hello Wildcats!
For the past 20 years, the United States federal government has declared the month of October to be Cybersecurity Awareness Month, a dedicated month for the public and private sectors to work together to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity. In the spirit of innovation and inclusion, DoIT is spreading awareness about cybersecurity measures most relevant to our campus in the form of a cybersecurity themed carnival that we are calling the Festival of the Phishes.
The Festival of the Phishes will be an outdoor event held in Trinity Commons on Wednesday October 25th. The intent of this carnival is to bring some fun and practicality to a very serious and stressful subject while building a connection by teaching our community about Cybersecurity in a light-hearted and playful environment. DoIT invites you to come out and join us for an afternoon of games related to phishing while enjoying some Swedish Fish.
As technology becomes more agile and engrained into our daily lives, cybercriminals are working just as hard to find ways to compromise technology and disrupt our personal and higher education commitments. The theme for this year’s Cybersecurity Awareness Month is “Secure Our World”, with the main messaging revolving around four key cybersecurity best practices:
- Understanding the benefits of using a password manager and dispelling existing myths around password manager security and ease of use.
- Turning on Duo multifactor authentication on personal accounts as well as business and school accounts.
- Recognizing and reporting phishing – one of the primary threat actions used by cybercriminals today.
- Installing software updates on a regular basis and turning on automated updates.
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As cybersecurity continues to be a global concern and focus, DoIT is positioned to provide our campus with the materials, resources, training, and experiences needed to stay safe online and prevent our campus community members from being a victim of cyber criminals. I hope that you will join us at the cybersecurity carnival on October 25th. We are an official Partner of #CybersecurityAwarenessMonth and as always, a strategic partner invested in your success at Chico State.
Kind regards,
Monique Sendze
Vice President of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer
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Chico State offers free personal subscriptions to LastPass premium for all employees and students, which is a simple and secure password manager that our Information Security (ISEC) office recommends. Reusing the same password for multiple online accounts is the number one cause for security breaches. Creating a unique password for every online account is the best practice to keep your accounts safe, but many do not do this because so many unique passwords are impossible to remember. LastPass allows users to keep track of all of their passwords all-in-one place. If you already have a free LastPass account to manage your passwords, you can upgrade to a LastPass premium account for free. | |
 | You can sign up for a free Poll Everywhere account with your Chico State credentials and get access to real-time polling software. You can use Poll Everywhere directly from their website by logging in with your Chico State account, or you can use Poll Everywhere within Canvas and Zoom. This software allows a presenter to create a question on https://www.polleverywhere.com/ and will pose this question in the form of a poll for your audience to respond to on https://pollev.com. As members of your group respond, Poll Everywhere produces live, instant reports on how everyone in your group responded. This tool allows presenters to quickly take the pulse of a meeting room by creating audience engagement in an immediate, quantifiable way. Instructors can use Poll Everywhere for everything from collecting opinions, to pop quizzes that will test the existing knowledge of an audience, to promoting creativity in collaborative projects and brainstorming sessions. For in-house support, reach out to Claudine Franquet via cfranquet@csuchico.edu with any questions or to schedule training sessions. | |
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Blackboard Learn will be decommissioned after December 22nd. All Blackboard courses from the 2022-2023 academic year have already been migrated to Canvas, and requests to migrate older courses, if absolutely needed, must be submitted to TLP by October 20th. Before submitting migration requests, consider the following alternatives to cut down on clutter in the Canvas environment. The options below are actions you can take prior to December 22nd:
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Chico State Wins First Place in the CSU Photo of the Year Contest
In late September the Chancellor’s Office announced University Photographer Jason Halley as the winner of the CSU-wide Photo of the Year contest, a competition between the 23 CSU campuses. The criteria for the photo submission was open-ended to include any aspect of campus life and culture, with the exception of commencement photos. The end result was a diverse collection of photos representing each CSU campus, and all the photos that were cast in the vote can be found here. Lead University Photographer Jason Halley submitted a stunning photo of the ultracold laboratory run by professors Hyewon Pechkis and Joe Pechkis on behalf of Chico State. The winning photo depicted a student, Toni Grubesic, looking through the viewport of the ultrahigh vacuum chamber with a complex equation written on a whiteboard in the background.
The goal of Jason Halley’s photography is to show-not-tell how students at Chico State are empowered to use sophisticated technology in the classroom, and help others learn about all that Chico State has to offer. In an interview about the contest, Halley stated “It’s amazing to me to think in little ol’ Chico there are students who are studying atoms at near absolute zero with lasers and vacuum chambers. The technologies that they work with are complicated and involved to me, but students are very comfortable with their use and impress me with the knowledge they apply.
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The Division of IT Proudly Presents its First Cybersecurity-Themed Carnival to the Campus: The Festival of the Phishes
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month and the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) is spreading the latest news, trends, and advice in cybersecurity this year by hosting an Information Security-themed carnival on October 25th called the Festival of the Phishes. The entire campus community is welcome to attend and enjoy an afternoon of lighthearted fun and classic carnival games while engaging with DoIT and learning about how to protect themselves from phishing attempts online. Attractions at the carnival include a mechanical surfboard showcasing how to safely surf the web, an art show of satirical cybersecurity themed pieces, fish-themed snacks, and more.
Date: October 25, 2023
Time: 12 p.m. - 4 p.m.
Location: Trinity Common
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The Festival of the Phishes is being presented by the Division of IT to support Chico State’s strategic priority of technology equity and accessibility for all of our students, staff, and faculty. Chico State users have expressed that cybersecurity is an overwhelming topic, and DoIT is demonstrating its commitment to serve the campus’ needs by opening up a dialog with the community at this in-person event. Mark your calendar for Wednesday October 25th and join us for the first-ever cybersecurity themed carnival at Chico State—the Festival of the Phishes is going to be an event like no other.
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CSU Information Security Experts Join Forces in Highlighting Exciting Roles in Cybersecurity
Ever wonder what a career in cybersecurity entails? In support of Cyber Security Awareness Month, Cybersecurity experts from across the CSU system are offering a series of webinars on various topics related to cybersecurity. Tune in on October 26th at 11am for a candid conversation about the day in the life of a cybersecurity career professional. The session will explore some different roles that comprise a cybersecurity team, and help users gain insight about how other campuses manage their unique cybersecurity landscape.
Chico State’s Information Security Officer Chris Witthans will highlight the diversity of skillsets that make up an ideal information security team that is prepared to defend any organization against evolving cyber risks and threats. Understanding risks, being able to effectively communicate what risks are to broad audiences, and the ability to operationalize secure IT strategies are just a few of the key skills that Witthans with illuminate in this webinar about a day-in-the-life of a cybersecurity professional.
Webinar: CompTIA | Cybersecurity Professional Diaries
Date: October 26
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
Where: Zoom
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Do I have to install software updates. When should I expect them?
Yes, automatic software updates are required on campus-managed devices in order to comply with minimum workstation standards, and Microsoft releases patch updates on the second Tuesday of each month. The CSU urges its customers to participate in Patch Tuesday as soon as possible, due to the reality that malicious actors constantly scrutinize the code in patches to gather clues to develop malware variants.
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What is the difference between spam vs. phishing?
Spam is annoying and unwanted, such as marketing or sales emails, while phishing is malicious and aims to steal your information making fraudulent claims or vague threats. Delete or Block spam. Use the Phish Alert button to report phishing to the Division of IT.
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Coming this January: Upgraded Student Printing throughout Campus to Support Student Success
This January the Division of IT (DoIT) plans to launch a centrally managed student printing services system that will be supported by IT Support Services, in an effort to improve the user experience for our students. This project has been created in response to feedback received from the IT End-User Survey sent by DoIT each year, a forum where students let us know that existing printing services on campus are too expensive, difficult to use, and unreliable.
DoIT is collaborating with areas across campus who support student success to create a consistent user experience that focuses on the printing needs of students. The new printers will be part of a centrally managed network of high-quality printers, positioning the Division of IT to proactively support student printing services while learning more about student needs through the data collection that a centrally managed printing system allows. The new printers will be placed in accessible locations across campus and enable printing from mobile phones or any internet enabled device. Each student will be given a printing account with a specified number of free printed pages per semester, creating an equitable and consistent user experience regardless of the location that is being used for printing.
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Meet Obioha Ogbonna
Information Security Risk Analyst for Information Security (ISEC)
I work as the Information Security Risk Analyst in the Information Security office. I oversee critical campus systems, data repositories, business processes, and ensure compliance with federal regulations regarding student data.
I'm of the Igbo Tribe of Nigeria and I was born in Lagos, the economic capital of Nigeria. I grabbed my undergraduate degree (B.sc) in Petroleum and Gas Engineering at the University of Lagos, Nigeria and moved to the United States for my master's degree in cyber security at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
I moved to Chico State because it gave me the opportunity to team up with fantastic folks and create top-notch services for student success!
Here are a few fun facts about me:
- I was the AS President at Cal State Dominguez Hills for the 2022/2023 Academic Year
- I'm an award-winning African music composer
- I love soccer so much; I mostly play on the right wing (RW) and I support the North London football club named Arsenal
- I'm a seasonal gamer (Currently playing EA FC 24 and Elden Ring with a Hybrid build).
- My best food is Nigerian Jollof Rice😋
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Meet Samantha Cary
Marketing Cloud Developer for Enterprise Applications (EAPP)
I am the new Marketing Cloud Developer on the EAPP team. I am responsible for building the technical marketing solutions within the tool. I provide strategic expertise on targeting, personalization and performance.
A little about me!
- I am a Chico State Alumni.
- My husband and I moved back to Chico once we knew we were both working from home permanently.
- We have 2 kids, Alexandra (7) and Jacob (4).
- We also have 2 dogs (Great Dane and a Boston terrier) and 2 cats. Life is wonderfully chaotic.
- On my down time, I watch too much TV and I also like to bake.
- Since my name is Samantha Cary, my Chico State username ended up being Scary1.
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