Training Opportunities

  Microsoft Producer: A Working Session

MS Lab

To reserve a place in this classes, email
         londa.posvistak@smes.org        

Welcome Back!     

For those of you unfamiliar with the Tech Gazette, it is a monthly publication for faculty and staff meant to disseminate useful information to you regarding technology here at St. Margaret's. Areas covered include, among other things: staff training, viruses, network policies, how-to's, interesting websites, and tech tidbits at all levels of experience. You'll be notified by e-mail when a new Gazette is available, and you can always access current, as well as past issues, via our school website, www.smes.org. Click on "Around Campus", then click on "Technology", and select "Tech Gazettes". If there is a subject matter you want to know more about, or if you have any questions or concerns, you are cordially invited to submit your request to Nicki.Yokota@smes.org.
 

Tech Tips

Spam: To Unsubscribe or Not

 We in Technology are frequently asked whether or not a person should click "unsubscribe" at the bottom of an unsolicited email. Our recommendation is a resounding "no", do not unsubscribe! Usually, if you do, it's only confirming that this email address is a viable (working) one, and the spammer will continue to barrage you with more junk. Even if you continue to get spam from the same sender, we encourage you to hit the "delete" button rather than use the "unsubscribe" link. Who knows? You may get a little satisfaction knowing you're sending that mail to the cyber-trash heap!

Help 101: How to Request Assistance for Equipment & Phones

It's the beginning of the school year and wouldn't you know it? You can't log onto the computer, or the overhead monitor isn't working properly, or the printer doesn't print, or any number of technical difficulties that can arise in a classroom or office. Our technology staff is very aware of your need to have everything working as smoothly as possible. It is for that reason that we ask that when you need help for any tech equipment or your phone, please contact our help lines. The help phone line is extension 697. Our e-help line is help@smes.org . Both are checked multiple times a day.

What happens when you place a help request? Upon pickup, it is immediately logged and assigned to a technician. An email is sent to that technician describing the problem (so a complete description of what's happening from you is really important), the location and the name of the person making the request. Depending upon the work flow, our technicians will respond accordingly. We do ask for your patience, especially in the first couple of weeks of the school year. Technicians are here before school opens, after school ends, working into the evening hours, and sometimes working on weekends. 

This is what we do for you. What can you do for us? Primarily, we ask that you use the help lines and resist the temptation to email, call or flag down a technician directly.

Did You Know?: Network Security is Everyone's Responsibility

[Most of the following information is from Version 1.0 of a program developed for the Defense Security Service Academy (DSSA) by the Defense Personnel Security Research Center (PERSEREC). It is Unclassified and has been approved for public release by the Department of Defense. http://www.dss.mil/search-dir/training/csg/security/V1comput/Password.htm#Passwords]

This past summer, there was widespread media coverage about computer vulnerabilities and its possible effect upon the security of this country. Hopefully, you did something to protect your home computers a little more. The following information, provided by the Defense Security Service Academy and the Defense Personnel Security Research Center, will hopefully help you understand why we, at St. Margaret's, stress network security starting with your password. There are tips at the end of this which we also hope assist you in developing effective passwords to use not only at SMES but at home, as well.

Your password is the key to your computer -- a key much sought-after by hackers as a means of getting a foothold into your system. A weak password may give a hacker access not only to your computer, but to the entire network to which your computer is connected. Treat your password like the key to your home. Would you leave your home or office unlocked in a high crime area?

Too many passwords are easily guessed, especially if the intruder knows something about their target’s background. It's not unusual, for example, for office workers to use the word "password" to enter their office networks. Other commonly used passwords are the computer user's first, last or child's name, Secret, names of sports teams or sports terms, and repeated characters such as AAAAAA or bbbbbb.

Your computer password is the foundation of your computer security, and it needs to stand up against the tools that hackers have for cracking it. There are 308 million possible letter combinations for a six letter password using all upper case or all lower case letters. A readily available password cracker can check all of them in only 2 minutes 40 seconds.

 Here are some things to think about when choosing your next password.

• Almost all computer operating system software programs on the market today that store passwords in encrypted format store the last character in the clear. All password cracking programs know this, so that means one less character for them to crack. This is one of several reasons why numbers and special characters should be toward the middle of your password, not at the beginning or end.
• A six-letter password using all upper case letters or all lower case letters has 308 million possible letter combinations. This is easily broken within a couple minutes by automated password cracking programs that hackers can download from the Internet.
• With some combination of both upper and lower case letters, a six letter password has 19 billion possible combinations. If you increase the password to eight letters and use both upper and lower case letters, there are 53 trillion possible combinations. Substitute a number for one of the letters, and there are 218 trillion possible combinations.
• Substitute one of the special characters for another one of the letters, and you have the recommended type of password -- at least eight characters, including at least one upper case letter, lower case letter, number, and special character or punctuation. This has 6,095 trillion possible combinations -- still crackable, but requiring a more sophisticated program, a far more powerful computer, and far more time.
• Once you have selected an effective password, protect it. Resist the temptation to write your password down. If you do, keep it with you until you remember it, then shred it! NEVER leave a password taped onto a terminal or written on a whiteboard. You wouldn't write your PIN code on your automated teller machine (ATM) card, would you? Do not allow anyone to observe your password as you enter it during the logon process.

What are special characters you can use? How about substituting $ for S, the number 1(one)  for the letter l (L), the number 0 (zero) for the letter O, and & for "and"? Another trick to consider is to use the first initial of a favorite quote or phrase; for example, "To be or not to be" becomes 2bon2b. Looks confusing? Not if the phrase or combination of letters of family names is meaningful only to you!
 

While we're talking about cybersafety, here is a great website that has several links you may find interesting for you as a professional as well as a parent or grandparent. The website is Stay Safe Online and there are quite a few links you can click that provide excellent, interesting bits of information on keeping everyone safe while surfing the Internet.
http://www.staysafeonline.info/: This website provides excellent information on cyber security and what you can do to secure your personal computer. Check out the various links to a variety of subject matters like a guide for beginners who may not know a lot about computers, hackers, viruses and security (http://www.staysafeonline.info/beginner.adp).
In the Tech Talks link, take your pick between a wonderful "manual" you can download for keeping children cyber-safe, a free course on security fundamentals, or an interactive presentation on keeping your computer safe from cyber-attacks (http://www.staysafeonline.info/techtalks.adp).
Are you cyber-safe or a cyber-risk? Here's a quick little quiz you can take to find out. http://www.staysafeonline.info/selftest.adp

Announcements

Accessing Network Folders Remotely Here are several ways you and your students can access network folders from any off campus computer: Dial up, FTP, using any of the Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), and, for staff with high-speed Internet access and an XP computer only, VPN (Virtual Private Network). Remote Access: You can dial in at (949) 661-9010, get connected to the S, L, M or U:drive, and click on your folder; -or- FTP: FTP or File Transfer Protocol allows you to access your folder by typing FTP://206.135.101.30 (Lower School); FTP://206.135.101.31 (Middle School); FTP://206.135.101.32 (Upper School)' or FTP://206.135.101.25 (staff) into the URL space of your Internet page; -or-- Using Word/Excel/PowerPoint: Simply open the application of choice, click on File, Open, in the Look In box, scroll all the way to the bottom where you’ll see FTP Locations and Add/Modify FTP Locations. The Add/Modify FTP Locations box will open which enables you to enter the appropriate FTP address Next, enter your username and password, click on “ok”. The S, L, M or U Drive will open and you can scroll to your folder and open. If you try to open someone else’s folder, you won’t be able to (and likewise, no one else can open your folder). Make sure you save whatever changes you make to your document. Otherwise, it will not show up the next time you open your work. Caution: Faculty with SMES-enrolled children should be very careful when logging on with the FTP://206.135.101.25 address. If your child should happen to use the computer with this connection, they will have access to your network folder and any other folder/drive to which you have access.

Great Buys at the Marketplace! Got something to sell? Want to get something at a great price? Come to the Tartan Marketplace, an online bulletin board created exclusively for the faculty and staff of SMES. Here, you may post an item to be advertised in the Tartan Marketplace or search for items already posted.   http://www.smes.org/classes/market/market_welc.htm

Technology Assistance
If you need help with technology, call the helpline at ext. 697 or email help@smes.org .
               Provide as detailed description of the problem as you can, and include the best times for someone to come by.