ITS Plugged In Monthly Newsletter

October 2023

New Campus Computer Refresh Request Webpage What’s happening?

ITS has launched a new webpage outlining an overview and device eligibility for the campus computer refresh program. If you meet eligibility for a refreshed computer, please visit the ITS webpage: https://tamusa.atlassian.net/servicedesk/customer/portal/28/user/login? destination=portal%2F28%2Fgroup%2F58%2Fcreate%2F409 to get started.

If you have questions, please call the ITS Helpdesk at (210) 784-4357.

Feedback Please do not reply to this email.

The A&M-San Antonio Information Technology Services team is working hard to provide robust and reliable technology services to the campus community. We strive to meet or exceed the expectations of the students, faculty, and staff we serve, and we welcome your feedback on this event or any other aspect of our services. Please send your feedback to ITSFeedback@tamusa.edu.

Congratulations ITS Student Workers ITS student workers took part in organizing and participating in the ACM (Association of Computer Machinery) first hackathon, HackSA. Josh Ibrom assisted in organizing the event along with Derek Ortiz and Liliana Martinez, who participated in the hackathon event. Derek Ortiz and Liliana Martinez were part of team Cloud Secure. Chloe Casuga was on team UNI. Cloud Secure won the general competition, and UNI won the best collaboration.

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month!

Students, faculty, and staff walked through the CAB lobby at noon last Thursday, October 19, 2023… Stopped by to visit Fisha, the Fish…Reviewed examples of real live phishing emails…Heard of others who fell victim to the bait…Picked up a flyer with four Cyber Security Awareness Month Tips Obtained a “gold-fish” snack for listening… and Learned how to PLAY HARD TO GET… PLAY HARD TO GET! Do not respond! (Could be a malicious criminal!)

Do not click on any links! (Could be malicious website!)

Do not open any attachments! (Could be malicious software!)

Do not call the phone number! (Could be a malicious location!)

Do not be greedy! (If it’s too good to be true, it probably is!)

Do not fear! (If there’s a sense of urgency, slow down and investigate!)

Cyber Security Awareness Month Tips: https://www.canva.com/design/DAFxLIOH58c/f5AUDxc3PakD-1C1xEBC_A/edit? utm_content=DAFxLIOH58c&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&u tm_source=sharebutton More fun was planned for this week for Cyber Security Awareness Month: Students, faculty, and staff were given the opportunity to stop by the tables in the CAB Lobby at noon, Thursday, October 26, 2023, to PLAY THE CYBER SECURITY AWARENESS GAME !

Self-Service Portal Did you know?

The Self-Service Portal is available on your TAMUSA computer. To get to it, locate the icon in your desktop's bottom right corner* or by typing “self” in the search bar.

*You may need to click the up/down arrow next to the network and sound icons to show the system tray icons

From the resulting window, you can install various TAMUSA-approved software that may not be generally available on your workstation without contacting the helpdesk for admin privileges.

Examples: Firefox Browser, LockDown Browser, Python, RStudio, SPSS and more…

This repository is a work in progress, and we would love to hear your feedback about possibly adding software you think may be helpful.

Calling all Owners and Custodians: Risk Assessments are Coming!

Soon, many employees will be contacted regarding IT risk assessments. This briefly explains what risk assessments are, why we are required to perform them, and the role you might play in the risk assessment process.

The A&M System’s Internal Audit department audits each A&M university for IT compliance roughly once every five years. TAMUSA’s last IT audit was in 2017, and we will be audited in the spring of 2024. These audits cover the entire scope of IT: accounts and access, passwords, patching, physical security, purchasing, policies and procedures, disaster planning, education and awareness, network security – you name it. As such, these audits require much preparation, and the results are a closely watched scorecard for an institution’s IT compliance.

Risk assessments are one focus of the audit. The auditors use Chapter 202 of the Texas Administrative Code (“TAC 202”) as their yardstick for gauging compliance, and TAC 202.75 states that a risk assessment of the institution’s IT resources shall be performed and documented. A&M System Policy 29.01.03 in section 4(c) requires risk assessments to be performed annually.

Every IT resource has an Owner and a Custodian. Generally speaking, the Owner

approves/declines access requests, and the Custodian manages the resource in accordance with the Owner’s decisions. They also do the risk assessment. The Custodian fills out the annual risk assessment form in Jira, and the risk assessment is then reviewed and approved by the Owner and the Information Security Officer.

The risk assessment form is a set of about 30 questions about the information security of the resource. For example: is the resource protected by Duo? how often is the resource patched? How long could the university go without the resources before significantly impacting business? And so on.

For many resources, ITS is both the Owner and the Custodian. However many resources are still owned or managed by other departments. If you are the Owner or Custodian of a resource, expect to hear shortly from ITS about submitting the annual risk assessment for that resource. Filling out the form takes roughly 20 minutes, and then you’re done for the year.

If you have any questions, please contact the Information Security Officer at iso@tamusa.edu.

ITS Staff Awards ITS Leadership nominated and awarded the following awards.

Team of the Quarter ​Applications Team Employee of the Year ​Frank Ramon Employee of the Quarter Matthew Livingston (Not pictured) ​

A&M-SA Office of Information Technology Services | One University Way, San Antonio, TX

78224 Unsubscribe rcastro@tamusa.edu Update Profile |Constant Contact Data Notice Sent byam-saofficeof.informationtechnologyservices@tamusa.edupowered by

Try email marketing for free today!