U-M Online Newsletter—October 2006

• Check Your Password When You Change Your Clocks on October 29
• Virus Alert: Mail Appears to be from abuse@umich.edu
• Reduce Spam by Deleting Unused Mail Groups
• 2006 Blue Disc Software and CD Now Available
• Usenet News Service Was Turned Off August 14
• Support for Versions of Mac OS X Before 10.3.9 to Stop in 2007
• U-M Signs License with McAfee to Continue Use of VirusScan
• Web Login Page has a New Look

Check Your Password When You Change Your Clocks on October 29

Check Your Password

When you change your clocks for the end of Daylight Saving Time on October 29, check your password by answering the questions in our Password Security Checklist.

Check Your Computer Clock

• Windows 95 and Later Clock Resetting Steps
• Mac OS X Clock Resetting Steps

Virus Alert: Mail Appears to be from abuse@umich.edu

The e-mail messages spreading the virus appear to come from abuse@umich.edu, but the address is forged. The messages include a URL, and clicking the URL causes the infection. This virus only infects Windows machines.

If you receive a message with all these characteristics, delete it:

• The message is from abuse@umich.edu.
• The message subject is Account Alert (or something like that).
• The message asks you to confirm your e-mail by the ollowing link.

If your computer was infected before the anti-virus software was updated, you will need to disinfect it. (See What to Do If You Have a Virus.)

Please note that abuse@umich.edu is a legitimate e-mail address that was forged by the virus. It is the e-mail address of the IT User Advocate Office. The IT User Advocate did not send the messages referred to here.

Reduce Spam by Deleting Unused Mail Groups

If so, delete those old groups and reduce spam for yourself and the other group members. A new tool just added to the directory makes it easy.

1. Go to the directory web page.
2. Search for your own entry.
3. Click the Bind button and log in with your uniqname and password.
4. Click the Show Ownership button.
5. Check the Delete checkbox to the left of each group that you want to delete.
   NOTE: If you see a list of groups without checkboxes, it is because you are not bound to the directory. Click the Bind button and log in, then click Show Ownership.
6. Click the Save Changes button.
7. At the Verify Deletion screen, click Yes, Delete.

2006 Blue Disc Software and CD Now Available

U-M Online subscribers will continue to receive the CD, and individuals can purchase it at the Computer Showcase for $8.00, tax included. "Because we'll essentially be making CDs only as needed, our inventory will be minimal," said project manager Jeff Cohen. "Now we'll be able to update the Blue Disc CD almost as often as we update our download site.

"The 2006 Internet Access Kits and individual installers include a few bug fixes, but are otherwise the same as last year's," Cohen stated. "People who are successfully using the 2005 Internet Access Kits have no compelling reason to update at this time."

A few new items, however, are available for Mac users that can be downloaded and are also on the 2006 CD. New to the CD is Sophos Anti-Virus for Mac OS X. Other featured items include the U-M Apple Mail Configuration Tool that configures Apple Mail for the ITCS IMAP e-mail service (Mac OS X 10.4 only) and U-M Widgets, a collection of U-M-specific Dashboard widgets for Mac OS X 10.4 that are fun and helpful but unsupported.

"We still include dial-in configurations for MichNet, Merit 800, and Merit Global Services (MGS)," Ruth Addis, director of User Services added, "although U-M's MichNet dial-in service will end on January 2, 2007. At that time, we'll revise the kits so they only support Merit 800 and MGS national dial-in."

Usenet News Service Was Turned Off August 14

• People interested in still participating in the Usenet community can both read and post articles through the use of Google Groups. (See the Help for Google Groups for details.)
• Those interested in continuing to use native Usenet clients can use one of the publicly accessible servers. The Newzbot site publishes a database of public servers and lets you search for the groups you're interested in.

Support for Versions of Mac OS X Before 10.3.9 to Stop in 2007

ITCS will continue to support Mac OS X 10.3.9 and later. Some U-M departments may continue to provide support for earlier versions of Mac OS to their users. Apple, however, has stopped releasing security updates for versions of the Mac OS earlier than 10.3.9.

ITCS recommends that Macintosh users upgrade to Mac OS X 10.3.9 or later. Some Macintosh computers, those seven or more years old, may not be able to run Mac OS X 10.3.9. A chart showing which machines can run which operating systems is on the ITCS web site.

U-M Signs License with McAfee to Continue Use of VirusScan

Web Login Page has a New Look

You still log in the same way you always have, by typing your uniqname and UMICH Kerberos password and then clicking the Log In button. Only the look of the page has changed.