CIO Monthly Note 3/31/2019

Content this Month

• CollegeNET X25 Master Planning
• Information Security Improvements
  • Training
  • Phish Tank
  • Phishing@necc.mass.edu
  • Cisco Umbrella
  • Department of Homeland Security
• IT Service Management
  • Service Catalog, Project Portfolio, Demand Management & Team Dynamix

There are many new and exciting initiatives going at in and outside of I.T.S. right now.  Here are a few highlights for this month.

CollegeNET X25 Master Planning

Thanks to the tremendous effort of Mary Murphy and the cooperation of Administration & Finance, Enrollment and Information Technology Services we will begin to use the master planning system built into our CollegeNET Series25 scheduling and resource management system this spring.  This system provides analysis of space utilization, patterns and allows for what-if analysis to improve the college’s ability to plan for our future vision.  If you would like to learn more about this system take a look at the feature list from the CollegeNET website.

Information Security Improvements

“Phishing” is the most common type of cyber attack that affects colleges like ours. Phishing attacks can take many forms, but they all share a common goal – getting you to share sensitive information such as login credentials, credit card information, or bank account details.

Training is the Best Prevention

Information Technology Services continues to prove annual training for all employees through our online training system referred to as MOAT.  Everyone receives reminders annually until we each complete the program.

Phish Tank

In addition I.T.S. has incorporated training materials in our new website at https://its.necc.mass.edu/its-training/infosec-training/ and thanks to Chris Firth we have a repository of the various phishing attacks we have received called the Phish Tank.  The Phish Tank is a safe way to view attacks we have received along with an explanation of what to look for in each attack.  This is a great way to get up to speed on how to identify phishing attacks quickly.

phishing@necc.mass.edu

Our new phishing email address has been receiving steady inquiries every day and managed to catch a phishing attack early for us!  As our new email header warning recommends many of you are forwarding questionable emails to our phishing@ address which ensures ITS staff are aware of these attacks very early.  Also feel free to use the address to forward any emails you aren’t sure about.  Thanks to everyone that has been using this it has helped us keep ahead of many attacks this semester.

Cisco Umbrella

NECC and most of the State colleges are also embarking on a new implementation of Cisco Umbrella which will provide another layer of information security for us all.  One of the biggest challenges we face beyond phishing is protecting our users on and off campus.  Umbrella has many security rich features which include the ability to better protect everyone no matter where you are working from.

Homeland Security

I.T.S. along with most of the other State colleges have implemented the free Cyber Hygiene tools from the Department of Homeland Security.  This service provides third-party scanning of our public facing websites and devices giving us weekly reports of the health of each system and if any patches or updates are needed.  Thanks to John Pastore this free service was brought up online quickly and allowed us to discontinue a service we have been paying for.  Savings and increased security!

IT Service Management (ITSM)

ITS continues to implement ITSM through our new and rapidly growing service catalog, the IT portfolio management system Team Dynamix and coming soon to our website the Executive Project Deck which will incorporate our demand management system into an easy to view web page of projects and initiatives being prioritized in the short and long-term.  If you would like to learn more about project management and our Team Dynamix system please attend an upcoming IT Committee meeting or drop me a line.

As always if you would like to learn more please visit the ITS website at https://its.necc.mass.edu, attend an IT Committee meeting or reach out to me directly.

Thank you,
Jeff