CCIT This Week: RCD virtual town hall, Staying Safe on Spring Break, and document accessibility with Clemson Online

Tara Stone, CCIT Communications
March 11, 2024


CCIT This Week: Tips, news, and what's happening this week in CCITWelcome to CCIT This Week, where we give you a rundown of news, tips, upcoming maintenance and more. This page will be updated throughout the week. Follow us on Twitter @ClemsonIT for daily information and timely updates.

News

CCIT Research Computing and Data (RCD) will host an interactive Town Hall on Friday, March 15, to continue sharing information and offering updates. During this meeting, members of the RCD team will present updates on new staff, Palmetto maintenance, and more.


Spring break is right around the corner
and itineraries may be well underway. Now more than ever, staying safe on trips extends far beyond applying enough sunscreen, staying hydrated, and moving in groups. In fact, technology can play a key role in keeping you safe, especially when so many of our plans involve our smartphones and different applications. Check out our article for some quick reminders to ensure you can stay tech safe this Spring Break too.


Changes to Clemson email quarantine.
 The quarantine function is part of the University’s security toolset providing proactive, immediate security for the more than 2,600 phishing and scam attempts the University receives by email each month. Beginning on Monday, February 26, 2024, faculty, staff, and students who receive email notifications about a “high confidence” phishing email that has been quarantined will be required to take an extra step if they would like to release that email back into their inboxes.


Important change for Box storage external collaborators.
On Monday, February 19, 2024, an added layer of password protection was implemented to the Clemson Box storage service to help heighten the security of Clemson University documentation. Clemson users can continue using Box as usual without impact; however, they should be aware that this change will affect external users who have been given permission to collaborate within our Box environment.


Security shares helpful guidelines and resources for AI use.
Clemson University students, researchers, employees and community members may be using the generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools readily available today. ChatGPT, and other AI resources, can offer exciting new opportunities for efficiency in data processing, idea generation for projects, or even programming. As we continue looking at privacy and information security when using AI tools, the Office of Information Security is urging the Clemson community to visit the University’s AI Guidelines page and to remember to use best practices.


Staff members report receiving retirement planning emails.
Many Clemson University employees recently received an email offering retirement planning sessions. These emails encourage recipients to follow a link and sign up for a session to help plan their retirement. Clemson Human Resources has verified that this is not a legitimate email from the SC Benefits program, which handles our state retirements.


Stay alert for messaging app scams!
Messaging apps, like WhatsApp, are being used by cybercriminals to target potential victims in cryptocurrency scams. The Clemson University campus community is encouraged to practice due diligence and not engage with messages from unknown or unexpected contacts.

Events


Check out the Spring workshop series from Research, Computing and Data!
This series covers various high-performance computing, machine learning, and software development topics. The next workshops are “Advanced Deep Learning in Pytorch” at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, March 27 (Part 1) and Friday, March 29 (Part 2). Registration is required; open to all Clemson students, faculty and staff.


Learn how to check the accessibility of your documents and presentations!
Join Clemson Online on Wednesday, March 13 at 1:30 p.m. to learn about Microsoft accessibility checkers! Accessibility is crucial in every class. In this training, our Accessibility Coordinator will guide you through using the helpful accessibility checker in Microsoft Word and PowerPoint.


The popular GIS Fundamentals Workshop Series continues this week!
The next workshop will be “GIS Analysis with High-Resolution Imagery from Planet.com” on Friday, March 15 at 1:30 p.m. The virtual workshops are free and open to all Clemson students, faculty, and staff; no previous experience is necessary! Sessions will be delivered online every Friday from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m.; attendees must preregister for each individual workshop.

March Tech Tip

Use a VPN to stay safe and connected when you are off campus! A VPN provides secure access to Clemson’s network when you are off campus, giving you access to important tools like iROAR. You can also connect to our VPN to stay safe from predators when sharing private information (like your username and password or credit card information) on public, unsecured Wi-Fi.

Upcoming Maintenance

Check out upcoming maintenance events on our CCIT Status Page.

 System Status

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