Computer Security Incident - 12/21 Update December 22, 2007
Posted by drowden in : News , add a commentDear Campus Community:
The investigation into the computer hacking incident at the University of Michigan-Flint is nearing completion. The IT forensics team has concluded that the clear purpose of the security breach was to illegally share copyrighted music and movies.
Our analysis of the affected servers that contained sensitive data is complete. Investigators from Information Technology Services in Flint as well as Information Technology Security Services in Ann Arbor went through thousands of files to determine whether sensitive data were accessed. Staff from several departments at the University of Michigan-Flint helped to verify this information. Of the thousands of records, there were 40 cases where the University could not conclusively determine that information had not been accessed. Although we think it is unlikely that the information was, in fact, accessed, we are erring on the side of caution and contacting those 40 individuals directly about steps they can take in response to the possibility that this crime exposed their personal information. There are still servers that are being analyzed, but we believe there is not any sensitive data on those remaining servers.
The University will continue to employ up-to-date security practices and technologies to prevent these types of crimes. The current criminal investigation is ongoing. Law enforcement officials, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, will continue to aggressively pursue the intruders who targeted the University and bring them to justice. I would like to extend my appreciation to all staff members from both campuses who have assisted with the investigation.
Your patience and understanding during the last two weeks has been greatly appreciated. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions or concerns.
Sincerely,
Scott Arnst
Director, Information Technology Services
For Vista Users: Replying to Emails when Using Internet Explorer. December 20, 2007
Posted by jepolida in : Vista News , add a commentThere is an issue for Windows Vista users concerning Outlook Webmail. When trying to send an email, the body of the email disappears and leaves a small red “X”. This is a known issue, but there is no remedy to this yet for Internet Explorer. Using Firefox as a web browser will allow you to type email messages, but the Webmail setup between Firefox and Internet Explorer looks a little different.
Some users have been able to reply to messages before using Internet Explorer, we are not sure why these users were able to use it before and not now. We are looking into to this issue.
Computer Security Incident Update December 17, 2007
Posted by jepolida in : News , add a commentDear Campus Community Member:
We would like to provide you with an update on the ongoing investigation into the security incident first mentioned in a campus email communication on Thursday, December 13.
On December 6, 2007, we discovered that someone unlawfully hacked into several University of Michigan-Flint servers. This action may have allowed unauthorized access to some personnel and student information. As soon as the security breach was detected, the affected servers were reinforced with additional security or taken offline. The University of Michigan Information Technology Security Services, along with the University of Michigan-Flint Information and Technology Services Staff, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are investigating the scope of the incident. At this time the evidence suggests that the intruder’s activity was consistent with the activity of people who invade computer infrastructures with significant bandwidth in order to carry out file sharing of pirated entertainment products such as music, games, and movies.
Most university systems were not affected by the breach including Banner, student and employee email accounts, SIS(Student Information System), departmental drives (I), special needs drives (O), and all of the business operations (e.g., Human Resources, Finance, Procurement, eResearch, etc.) that are supported through the Ann Arbor campus. However, the investigation is ongoing. As soon as our forensics either establish that someone’s personal information (social security number, bank records, credit card information, or similar information) was accessed or fails to establish that personal information was not accessed, we will contact the affected individuals.
Like you, the University is deeply concerned and frustrated when someone commits a crime that affects our campus, and we understand the anxiety this may cause. We are working with the utmost urgency to review every record in the affected systems so we can determine which, if any, records were accessed. We have already ruled out access to well over 90 percent of the records from the affected servers.
The University is committed to maintaining a secure computing environment. We will continue to implement and update security procedures and equipment on a regular, continual basis to enhance the integrity of our computer infrastructure. Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience this incident may cause you. We thank you for your patience and understanding.
Sincerely,
Vahid Lotfi
Interim Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Scott Arnst
Director of Information Technology Services (ITS)
Computer Security Incident December 14, 2007
Posted by jepolida in : Urgent News , add a commentDear Campus Community:
On December 6, 2007, University of Michigan-Flint technology administrators determined that a person or persons gained access to several servers on campus. Immediate steps were taken to contain the breach. The University of Michigan-Flint has been cooperating with local authorities including the FBI and working to determine the scope of the intrusion. At this time we have no information on what personal information may have been accessed. We are still working to determine the scope of the breach.
As a reminder, it is always a good practice to change your password on a regular basis. Information about changing your password can be found at http://www.umflint.edu/its/units/initiatives/publicity/password.htm
We will send out further information as soon as it is available. We expect an update as early as tomorrow.
Thank you.
Scott ArnstDirectorInformation Technology Services
Entourage Alert for Mac Users. December 12, 2007
Posted by jepolida in : Mac News , 1 comment so farITS is asking all Mac users to stop using Entourage to check their email at this time. Due to the email accounts being moved to a different server, Entourage may delete all the email in the inbox of those accounts. It is also creating duplicate subfolders within the account. This is a bug in Entourage that ITS is investigating. Please use outlook web access at http://mail.umflint.edu until ITS resolves this issue. ITS is also asking everyone to inform any known Mac users of this issue as soon as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. An update will be sent out campus wide as soon as one becomes available. Updates can also be found on the ITS Blog at http://blogs.umflint.edu/itshelpdesk.
Employee Email Update December 9, 2007
Posted by turnip in : News , add a commentThe network technicians have had to move the accounts from one of our servers to a new server this weekend. During that time employee email may have been unavailable for 15 minutes to an hour.
The technicians have informed me that you may need to reboot your computer to get Outlook to work correctly. If you have any questions please feel free to contact the helpdesk.
Employee Email Is Fully Operational at This Time! December 7, 2007
Posted by turnip in : News , add a commentEmployee email is fully operational at this time. Please expect temporary outages as ITS performs server and database maintenance over the next few days.
Thank you for your patience during this challenging time.
Employee Email is Still Not Fully Operational December 7, 2007
Posted by turnip in : News , add a commentThe email database that is not operational is taking a long time to repair. What this means is the employees on that database still do not have email access. Technicians have been working around the clock since 8:00PM Wednesday. To expedite the process the technicians are trying two different methods concurrently to restore the database. The current ETA is noon at the earliest.
Thank you again for your continued patience during this outage.
Both Email Servers Are Now Functioning Properly, Some Users May Be Experiencing Problems Still. December 6, 2007
Posted by jepolida in : News , add a commentBoth email servers are now functioning properly, however one of the email databases is offline. The majority of users have email access again, but a small amount of users are still not able to access their email. We are working on the issue and hope to have everyone fully functional by morning.
Over the next few days you may experience minor email interruptions as we reconfigure the servers.
We thank you for your patience.
Instructor Blackboard Email is Down. December 6, 2007
Posted by jepolida in : News , add a commentBlackboard uses the same system as the email, Blackboard email is also unavailable for instructors.
