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June 2015

The Benefits of Moving Your Commodity Servers to the UDC

Effective September 1, 2014, a change in University policy requires all commodity IT services to be either physically or virtually located within the University Data Center (UDC). The policy applies only to commodity IT services. "Commodity" IT servers are defined as "web servers, mail servers, file servers, database servers, and directory servers" in colleges, departments, and units.  (Exceptions may be requested via the UT ISO office).

The University Data Center is a professionally managed enterprise-class data center located on campus, and available (at reasonable cost) to

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Windows Server 2003 End of Life

Microsoft Windows Server 2003 will reach end-of-life (EOL) on July 14, 2015.  End-of-life refers to the date when Microsoft will no longer offer security updates, technical support, software, and content updates for the operating system.  At that time, such machines will no longer meet UT minimum security requirements, leaving these systems vulnerable to attacks. In addition,  new hardware, software, and third party software updates may no longer work with Windows Server 2003. In short, continuing to rely on Windows Server 2003 after its end of life date is a disaster

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What Stache Is and How to Use It to Share Confidential Information

The UT Information Security Office (ISO) created Stache (named after the moustache of the fictional TV private eye Thomas Magnum, portrayed by Tom Selleck)  to provide secure storage, sharing, and backup of such sensitive data as passwords, encryption keys, lock codes, and personal identification numbers. The creator of an entry in Stache controls who can see and/or edit the information.  No one else can see or access the data you enter (see footnote 1).

Use of Stache is available at no cost to active students, faculty and

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Protect Yourself Against Phishing Attacks

WRT phishing: author: Cam Beasely

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SUBJECT: Don't Get Hooked: Protect Yourself Against Phishing Scams

Colleagues --

The campus has recently experienced a greater number of targeted phishing attacks.  Attackers are constantly working to evade our anti-phishing defenses so that they can trick you into providing them with your sensitive personal information (e.g., passwords, account details). Some are even targeting your research data by encouraging you to run software that provides attackers with a backdoor

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What to Do If Your Computer or Device is Lost or Stolen

If your personal or UT-owned phone, laptop, or other device is lost or stolen, there are certain steps that you can or must follow.  Some of these steps apply in all cases, while others apply only in certain cases.

  1. For a stolen device, report the theft to the local police ASAP.  If you are not sure where it was stolen (e.g., you were travelling and returned home to find it missing), report the theft to the authorities where you live and for UT-owned equipment, to the UT Police.
  2. For a UT-owned device, or a device used for UT business, report the lost or
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