VCU Network Services will perform hardware upgrades beginning at 6 a.m. until 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 31. This work will affect Internet connectivity for the entire University. During this time, users will not be able to access the Internet or servers at the VCU Computer Center. ePhone VoIP telephones for VCU Computer Center and Purchasing at 10 S. 6th Street will also be upgraded during this time. Users of the ePhone telephone service (mainly Hospital buildings) may need to dial the 8 digit extensions to reach an outside line ( 9+ the 7 digit number).

Please contact the VCU Help Desk (828-2227, help@vcu.edu) with any questions.

NOTE: Don't be a phishing victim - VCU and other reputable organizations will never use email to request that you reply with your password, social security number or confidential personal information. For more details visit http://infosecurity.vcu.edu/phishing.html.

Follow Technology Services at:
http://www.ts.vcu.edu
http://www.twitter.com/vcutechservices
http://www.yammer.com

Posted by Sam Kennedy at 8:02 AM | Permalink

Oak4 email server is currently restarting. Users may connect to their alternate server, Aspen4, via IMAP or the Notes client of by changing their url to http://aspen4.vcu.edu/usermail#/mailfile.nsf.

Posted by Connie Lowery at 10:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Banner INB and Banner Self-Service will be unavailable this Friday, May 29th, beginning at 6 p.m. for system upgrades. The upgrades are expected to last for two hours and be completed by 8 p.m. Please contact the VCU Help Desk (828-2227, help@vcu.edu) with any questions.

NOTE: Don't be a phishing victim - VCU and other reputable organizations will never use email to request that you reply with your password, social security number or confidential personal information. For more details visit http://infosecurity.vcu.edu/phishing.html.

Follow Technology Services at:
http://www.ts.vcu.edu
http://www.twitter.com/vcutechservices
http://www.yammer.com

Posted by Sam Kennedy at 8:31 PM | Permalink

Student email server VRAM10 is restarting. Students may connect to their alternate server, vramimap10c.vcu.edu via IMAP or automatically via VCU Mail Anywhere.

Posted by Joe Lichtenstein at 7:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Due to a number of responses to phishing attacks over the weekend, the university email domain "vcu.edu" is currently being blacklisted by yahoo.com. VCU Computer Center staff have contacted Yahoo to request VCU's domain be whitelisted as soon as possible.

VCU Technology staff will never ask for personal information or passwords via email. If you have any questions about the authenticity of any email you receive, please do not hesitate to contact Doctor Notes at dnotes@vcu.edu or the Technology Services Help Desk at 828-2227.

Posted by Marie Scott at 4:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All VCU wireless network access points will be unavailable May 28th from 6 a.m. until 7 a.m. due to a network equipment upgrade. All users on both campuses logged onto to wireless network will be affected by this change. In addition, users will not be able to log in during this maintenance window. This work has been scheduled to address issues with authentication to the wireless network.

Please contact the VCU Help Desk (828-2227, help@vcu.edu) with any questions.

NOTE: Don't be a phishing victim - VCU and other reputable organizations will never use email to request that you reply with your password, social security number or confidential personal information. For more details visit http://infosecurity.vcu.edu/phishing.html.

Follow Technology Services at:
http://www.ts.vcu.edu
http://www.twitter.com/vcutechservices
http://www.yammer.com

Posted by Sam Kennedy at 7:33 AM | Permalink

Blackboard Regularly Scheduled Maintenance Completed (Friday, May 22) at 08:15pm.

Please email blackboard@vcu.edu or call the Help Desk at 828-2227 if you experience any problems.

Regards,
Blackboard Team

Posted by Jana Avery at 8:22 PM | Permalink

Aspen3 is currently restarting. Users should fail over to their alternate server, Oak3, via the Notes client. Imap users may connect to oak3.vcu.edu. VCU Mail Anywhere users may change their url string to oak.vcu.edu/usermail#/mailfile.nsf.

Posted by Connie Lowery at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Server maintenance will be performed between 4 am - 5 am Saturday morning, May 23, 2009. Access will be available via alternate servers via the Notes client, VCU Anywhere, or imap clients during this maintenance period.

Posted by Connie Lowery at 11:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

IMAP connection to email on Aspen3 is currently unavailable. Users may connect to their email via the Notes client, VCU Mail Anywhere, or on their alternate server, oak3.vcu.edu.

Posted by Connie Lowery at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

IT staff have discovered an email phishing scam which ask the recipient to visit a web page that isn't controlled by VCU, and in turn enter their email address, username and password. Like many phishing scams, it takes advantage of the recipient's fear and present a sense of urgency.

The email has a subject of "Important: Email Account Verification Update!!". The sender may be someone with a VCU email address or it may be someone with a non-VCU email address. Several VCU users have fallen for it and their email accounts have been used to send the phishing scam email to more VCU users.

The email states that you have exceeded your mailbox storage quota and that you need to supply your login credentials to reactivate your account (which doesn't even make sense since you can see that you can still send and receive email).

Please note that if you use the Firefox browser to attempt to visit the web page that the phisher tries to get you to visit, it warns you "Reported Web Forgery!" and asks if you're sure that you want to visit the page. Internet Explorer does not.

Phishing scams often take advantage of the recipient's fear or greed and this one is no exception.

VCU's Technology Services staff and other VCU business units will never ask you to email your password. Per VCU's Password Standard:

Passwords must be kept secret and must not be shared.

and

Passwords must not be inserted into email messages or other forms of electronic communication...

If you receive this email, or one like it, please delete it and do not respond to it. If you accidentally respond, change your password immediately and contact the VCU Help Desk to notify them that your password may have been compromised.

To learn more about how phishing works, what phishers might ask for, how they'll try to get you to share info., signs of a potential attack and how to protect yourself, visit our Phishing page.

For additional information security news, tips and more, view our Twitter page via the Web or your handheld device.

Posted by Steve Werby at 8:55 AM | Permalink

Email Services is currently restarting Aspen4. Users may connect to their alternate server, Oak4, via the Notes client or IMAP. VCU Mail Anywhere users may change their url to oak4.vcu.edu/usermail#.mailfile.nsf.

Posted by Connie Lowery at 12:55 PM | Permalink

Aspen2 has been restarted and all pending email has been delivered.

Posted by Connie Lowery at 4:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sametime instant messaging connectivity is intermittent due to eDirectory connectivity. This issue is being investigated.

Posted by Connie Lowery at 11:45 AM | Permalink

Blackboard Maintenance - Friday, May 22, 2009 - 4:00pm to midnight.

Blackboard Maintenance is the second and fourth Friday of the month.

If unforeseen circumstances cause the system to be down past midnight updates will be posted to the Blackboard system announcement blog at:
http://blog.vcu.edu/blackboard/

Regards,
The Blackboard Team

For further assistance contact:
Technology Services Help Desk Contact Information

Phone: 828-2227
Email: blackboard@vcu.edu
Help ticket: http://www.ts.vcu.edu/helpdesk/
Blackboard FAQ: http://faq.vcu.edu/ts/

Posted by Jana Avery at 8:00 AM | Permalink

Student email server VRAM11c is restarting. Students may connect to their alternate server, vramimap11.vcu.edu via IMAP or automatically via VCU Mail Anywhere.

Posted by Joe Lichtenstein at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Student email server VRAM6 is restarting. Students may connect to their alternate server, vramimap6c.vcu.edu via IMAP or automatically via VCU Mail Anywhere.

Posted by Joe Lichtenstein at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Student email server VRAM3c is restarting. Students may connect to their alternate server, vramimap3.vcu.edu via IMAP or automatically via VCU Mail Anywhere.

Posted by Joe Lichtenstein at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Email Services is aware of intermittent access issues with VCU Mail Anywhere on Aspen. This issue will be resolved as soon as possible. Users may change the url string to point to their mailfile on Oak, i.e. oak.vcu.edu/usermail/mailfile.nsf.

Posted by Connie Lowery at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Student email server VRAM9 is restarting. Students may connect to their alternate server, vramimap9c.vcu.edu via IMAP or automatically via VCU Mail Anywhere.

Posted by Joe Lichtenstein at 8:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Email server Oak4 is restarting and will be available shortly. Users may connect to Aspen4 via the Notes client or IMAP or by changing their url string via the web to Aspen4.vcu.edu/usermail#/mailfile.nsf.

Posted by Joe Lichtenstein at 10:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Student email server VRAM12 is restarting. Students may connect to their alternate server, vramimap12c.vcu.edu via IMAP or automatically via VCU Mail Anywhere.

Posted by Joe Lichtenstein at 8:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Student email server VRAM8 is restarting. Students may connect to their alternate server, vramimap8c.vcu.edu via IMAP or automatically via VCU Mail Anywhere.

Posted by Joe Lichtenstein at 8:18 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Scheduled maintenance will be performed on the E-mail system Sunday, May 17, between 7:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. During this maintenance window, access to e-mail may be unavailable on your primary server. Access to your e-mail via your alternate server should be available automatically when accessing through VCU Mail Anywhere, or via your alternate server using an IMAP connection or the Notes client.

Posted by James Pociluyko at 5:40 AM | Permalink

VCU Facilities Management began testing emergency generators today, May 11th, on both campuses. This process will continue through May 22nd. There will be some network and telephone impact for those locations that are scheduled for these tests. Please visit this site for information concerning the schedule and FAQs about the possible impact.

Please contact the VCU Help Desk (828-2227, help@vcu.edu) with any questions.

NOTE: Don't be a phishing victim - VCU and other reputable organizations will never use email to request that you reply with your password, social security number or confidential personal information. For more details visit http://infosecurity.vcu.edu/phishing.html.

Follow Technology Services at:
http://www.ts.vcu.edu
http://www.twitter.com/vcutechservices
http://www.yammer.com

Posted by Sam Kennedy at 12:28 PM | Permalink

VCU Network Services will perform a network hardware upgrade for the wireless network between 5 a.m. and 7 a.m. on Thursday, May 14. The VCU wireless network will be unavailable to users on both campuses during this period. This is being done to prepare for a wireless redundancy solution for the wireless network.

Please contact the VCU Help Desk (828-2227, help@vcu.edu) with any questions.

NOTE: Don't be a phishing victim - VCU and other reputable organizations will never use email to request that you reply with your password, social security number or confidential personal information. For more details visit http://infosecurity.vcu.edu/phishing.html.

Follow Technology Services at:
http://www.ts.vcu.edu
http://www.twitter.com/vcutechservices
http://www.yammer.com

Posted by Sam Kennedy at 8:07 AM | Permalink

VCU Network Services will perform network hardware upgrades between 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. on Monday, May 11 that will prevent users from accessing the Internet. Those telephone users served by the ePhones VoIP system will also be affected during this time. Buildings affected are: School of Engineering West, School of Engineering East, Snead Hall, Cary Street University Housing, Jefferson Street Parking Deck, and the VCU Brand Center.

Please contact the VCU Help Desk (828-2227, help@vcu.edu) with any questions.

NOTE: Don't be a phishing victim - VCU and other reputable organizations will never use email to request that you reply with your password, social security number or confidential personal information. For more details visit http://infosecurity.vcu.edu/phishing.html.

Follow Technology Services at:
http://www.ts.vcu.edu
http://www.twitter.com/vcutechservices
http://www.yammer.com

Posted by Sam Kennedy at 8:56 AM | Permalink

Student email server VRAM10c is restarting. Students may connect to their alternate server, vramimap10.vcu.edu via IMAP or automatically via VCU Mail Anywhere.

Posted by Joe Lichtenstein at 7:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)