California State University, Los Angeles
Information Technology Services Projects Update
Virus/Spam Blocker a Success
The University’s implementation of enhanced anti-virus/anti-spam services in the fall of 2004 has proven a success. Spam often contains viruses, worms, Trojan horses, and links to malicious software (malware and spyware). Since October 2004, the first level anti-virus/anti-spam services have prevented 998,551 viruses and 2,103,374 spam messages from reaching faculty and staff users’ inboxes.
| Blocked by First-Level Anti-Virus/Anti-Spam Services |
Viruses | Spam |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly Average | 83,213 | 167,781 |
| Weekly Average | 19,203 | 38,719 |
| Total since October 2004 | 998,551 | 2,103,374 |
Have a greater number of spam messages blocked from your inbox. Read about the campus anti-spam service at https://qmanager.calstatela.edu/:
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E-mail System Upgrade
E-mail has become an integral part of our day-to-day lives and the way we conduct business. No longer just simple text, today’s e-mail services offer an abundant array of features, including HTML display, font formatting, graphics, applications, distribution lists, and large attachments. The volume and size of e-mail sent, received, and stored is exponentially increasing.
Our limited campus resources cannot accommodate the demand for storage at the same rate that campus e-mail messages are accumulating. Numerous users keep many, if not all, of their messages on the campus’s e-mail servers. And, because our use and dependence on e-mail continues to escalate, the current e-mail servers’ storage capacities have reached a critical limit, putting the campus at risk of a system slow-down or failure, as well as possible data loss.
To mitigate these risks, a new e-mail server configuration is being put in place that will not only remove unnecessary stress on the mail servers, but will improve overall performance, security, and reliability of the system. The campus soon will publish e-mail and Public Folder guidelines, as well as best e-mail management practices. Users can influence improved system performance by taking responsibility for following best practices and performing the necessary housekeeping to keep their e-mail accounts manageable.
GET and GETLA Security Update
As part of the ongoing campus effort to increase the security of confidential and/or sensitive information and campus resources, the University has employed another layer of security to help protect users’ privacy when they log on to the GET and GETLA Web sites. The University will be better able to authenticate users, process online business transactions, and encrypt sensitive data. Now, both the GET and GETLA Web sites are secured with an SSL (short for Secure Sockets Layer) certificate, which enables private transmissions of documents and information via the Internet. The SSL certificate allows the web server and the web browser to encrypt the data that's transmitted between them. When visited, a secure Web site automatically downloads its SSL certificate (produced when a site is secured using SSL technology. Most browsers will display a locked padlock icon (see Figure 1) on the status bar to let users know they are transmitting data through a secure connection.
Figure 1
myCSULA
myCSULA will be the next generation campus portal that will provide online services, relevant campus news, and productivity tools all in one place. The goal is to build on GETLA current successes such as GET web registration, online grading, unofficial transcripts, and other faculty/staff services. Benefits include:
- Targeted Communications
Rather than mass communicating to the entire campus community, messages will reach their specific audiences. The result of a portal strategy is a proactive push of information to a target segment rather than relying on a pull of information by the individual. - Workplace Productivity
The portal will provide all the necessary tools, training, and support for users to perform their work in one online space accessible through a web browser.
Incremental implementation will begin with student services, followed by faculty and staff services, and will coincide with the emerging secure identity management framework.