Dez 2023

Dear ladies and gentlemen,
Dear colleagues,
Dear students,

Microsoft has released a new, free Outlook app for Windows 10 and 11 in addition to the classic Outlook application. This free application synchronizes access data, including passwords, and emails with the Microsoft cloud. For information security and data protection reasons, the app may not be used for business purposes at the university.

Students are not permitted to use the app to access university email addresses.

The same applies to Outlook apps on mobile devices (Android and iOS).

This does not apply to the classic Outlook application from the Microsoft Office package (Office 2016, Office 2019). This application can still be used and Webmail (https://w.uol.de) can also be used without restriction. You can find instructions on how to use webmail at the IT services: https://uol.de/itdienste/services/groupware/outlook-web

Stay alert,
Your Stabsstelle für Datenschutz- und Informationssicherheitsmanagement

Aug 2023

We request the return of borrowed ICBM laptops (unless they are currently in use after consultation with us).

June 2023

THOR: FAQs & Info

Warning against Ransomware Attack!

(Message from Renke Schütte, IT Coordinator of School V)

Dear colleagues,

Actions/actions from your side are probably necessary.

Our university IT infrastructure is currently under attack and the attackers have already penetrated our IT network.

Currently, the attackers are (presumably) carrying out a vulnerability analysis within our network. Our IT services have already identified user accounts through which the attackers were able to penetrate our system. Uncertainty exists as to whether all "hacked" accounts have been discovered or whether other vulnerabilities have already been found by the attackers. These are the attackers' preparations for a RAMSON attack, in which all infected systems/computers are encrypted and all data, programmes etc. are thus rendered unusable.

The central IT services and our university management are making every effort to keep this attack under control. For this purpose, external software (THOR) and expertise/consulting have already been purchased or commissioned. The THOR software analyses whether the respective computer is possibly infected.

What does this mean for us users, what is to be done?

For all computers/IT systems that are in the W2KROOT domain structure of the central IT services, the central IT services will take over the checking of the connected PCs. Actions by the users (you) are not necessary in this case. If you are not 100% sure whether your computer is in the W2KROOT domain and is therefore checked and protected by the IT services, please ask your administrator at the AG or Institute. Also to be considered are notebooks/computers in mobile work/teleworkplaces, all PC systems in the laboratories for device control, data evaluation, etc., if these are connected to the network and, if applicable, other systems that are present in your area.

For all computers/servers owned by the University of Oldenburg that are not in the W2KROOT domain of the IT services, software called THOR must be installed immediately. Self-operated servers have priority. After installing the software THOR, no further activities by the user are necessary. If you do not have the appropriate user rights or do not trust yourself to install it, ask your administrator in your AG or Institute.

Please act immediately, there is an urgent need for action. On private computers and private computers of students, the software THOR software must not be installed!

--

The following link to download the software THOR for the various operating systems was provided by the Data Protection and Information Security Unit, use only this source for the scanner THOR:

(The link to the download has already been sent with an email from Matthias Schroeder; if necessary, ask us again).

Note: As the THOR software is an executable file, some browsers, such as Microsoft Edge, only allow the download to your computer after explicit confirmation.

May 2023

Switching antivirus software from Sophos to SentinelOne

Information and a HowTo can be found at this link.

Important security information!

Dear colleagues,
there will be some changes in the IT area for all IT users, which I would like to inform you about briefly.

New anti-virus software Currently, the anti-virus software to be used on the computers of the University of Oldenburg is the product SOPHOS. The contract for the use of SOPHOS expires on 23.06.2023 and will not be extended. The successor product to SOPHOS will be SentinalOne. It will be possible to adapt the upcoming SentinalOne software to the needs of faculties or working groups. Working groups or institutions that do not want to or cannot use SentinalOne must develop their own data protection concept that meets the requirements of the BSI and submit this to the Data Protection and Information Security Unit.
SentinalOne will not be available for the group of students via the university! SentinalOne is available for Linux, Windows from XP, MacOS (from Intel chip), but not for mobile devices such as Android or IOS.
Currently, the IT services are testing the software in selected circles and will gradually add further groups that lie within the direct area of responsibility of the IT services. As the Schools are not part of these circles, the IT services will not install any software at our premises. The institutes and working groups will have to do this on their own.
As of 15.05.2023, the faculties can/are allowed to carry out the "replacement" of the anti-virus software. I will send out information on how this is to be done shortly. Some of this will be automatic, some will require installation on the PC.

2 Factor Authentication The University of Oldenburg will introduce 2 Factor Authentication, which is also required by the Data Protection Regulation (DGSVO). For us employees, this means that when logging in with GlobalProtect, for example, we have to legitimise ourselves via a second method in addition to our password. This second way can be an app on the smartphone, a small personal USB stick, a TAN list or similar. IT services are currently developing a system that will be coordinated with our data protection department, the Staff Council and other institutions.
This procedure is already common practice for online banking and other online systems, and now it is also coming to us. I do not yet know a time horizon for the introduction.

Password safe and passwords We all have to assign passwords for various areas and the security of the passwords is (also) important.
For security reasons, it is necessary to set up different passwords for different applications/accesses. With the now considerable number of accounts, accesses, etc., this results in a not inconsiderable number of (different) passwords, which are often difficult to remember.
Browsers like Firefox, Internetexplorer, Chrome etc. offer the possibility that these programmes remember the passwords for us. However, the use of storing passwords in browsers is strongly and urgently discouraged. These passwords can be read and decrypted. Do not store passwords in your browsers!

Password safe Our university therefore recommends the use of a so-called password safe, which stores and manages passwords for us. Under the following link you will find a product KeePassXC incl. instructions:
https://uol.de/dism/faq/anleitung-keepassxc-1
In case of problems, please contact your local IT administration in your work group or Institute. The central IT services do not provide support.

Passwords The security of a password increases mainly with the length of the password and only slightly with the complexity (special characters, numbers and upper case). Even the most cryptic password with only 5 characters can be cracked in a few minutes. Here are a few tips for good passwords:

• The password should be at least! 8 characters long, the longer the better!!! (My personal passwords are usually longer than 11 characters).
• The password should contain numbers, upper and lower case letters and special characters, but it is better not to use umlauts such as ä,ü,ö, as these sometimes cause problems with international applications.
• Passwords with names, number sequences, dates of birth and the like are unsuitable.
• It is not a good idea to leave passwords written down on pieces of paper on the PC/monitor, under the keyboard or in a drawer.
• It goes without saying that personal passwords should not be passed on to other people.

Unfortunately, the reality of life shows us that increased sensitivity on our part and higher technical security measures are unavoidable. The various protective measures currently taken by IT services cannot provide sufficient protection on their own, so we users must also make an increased effort and adapt our IT devices accordingly.

Yours sincerely,

Dipl. Ing. Renke Schütte
Department Head of Laboratory Supply and Disposal and Goods Receipt of the BI
Department Head of Presentation Techniques of the BI
IT Coordinator of the School V
Faculty V - Mathematics and Science

Address for correspondence:
Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg
D-26111 Oldenburg
---------------------------------------------------------
Campus Wechloy
Carl v. Ossietzky Straße 9-11
26129 Oldenburg

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Room: W2 0-016
Tel.: 0441/798-3446
Email: renke.schuette@uni-oldenburg.de

Dear colleagues,

We received a report from our MWK about possible attacks on the software products Confluence (WIKI software) and Jira (task management software), which are also frequently used in teaching and research.

Our Data Protection and Information Security Unit, Mr Thorsten Kamp, is asking for re-registration at short notice from those who use this software. If the software is not used, there is no need for a negative report.

Mr Thorsten Kamp will talk to the persons/working groups concerned about the problem and solutions.

Contact:
Thorsten Kamp:
Data Protection and Information Security Unit
Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg
Ammerländer Heerstr. 114-118
26129 Oldenburg
Tel.: 0441/798-4768
Email: thorsten.kamp@uni-oldenburg.de

Yours sincerely,

Dipl. Ing. Renke Schütte
Department Head of Laboratory Supply and Disposal and Goods Receipt of the BI
Department Head of Presentation Techniques of the BI
EDP Coordinator of the School V
Faculty V - Mathematics and Science
Letter address:
Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg
D-26111 Oldenburg
---------------------------------------------------------
Campus Wechloy
Carl v. Ossietzky Straße 9-11
26129 Oldenburg

---------------------------------------------------------
Room: W2 0-016
Tel.: 0441/798-3446
Email: renke.schuette@uni-oldenburg.de

Apr 2023

Possibilities for editing and annotating pdf documents

The software "KOFAX Power PDF" is available for Windows computers in the university network. A short description of how it works can be found in the linked document. The programme can be installed via ZENworks if the university PC is connected to the central software distribution.

An inexpensive alternative that runs on Windows, Linux and Mac is PDF Studio. There is also a linked short description.

A free version with limited functionality is Xournal++.

If you have any questions or need help with the installation, please send an email to .

Jan 2023

With the new year we welcome Andre El-Ama as another addition to the ICBM IT team!

An inventory of the ICBM laptop stock has shown that only about 20 of the 60 existing devices are currently available. The remaining 40 were issued on loan in the past in the course of the switch to online teaching due to Corona. Since teaching is now being conducted in presence again and the laptops are intended for this purpose, we request the return of the loaned devices.

Jun 2022

UPDATE: Microsoft has included a fix in the Cumulative Security Update on 14 Jun 2022 (finally!) - i.e. instead of the registry entry route described below, just apply the latest Windows updates - but everyone does that anyway, right?

The university Data Protection and Information Security Unit has classified a current security vulnerability as severe. There is no fix for this vulnerability yet, but there is a workaround - the affected module is more or less deactivated. Microsoft has written a blog post about this. You can follow it or download a script we created here from our cloud and run it as administrator.

Follow the steps below:

1. Download the batch file https://cs.uol.de/s/nWQS5Kmepe68SMt (and ignore any warnings).
2. Right-click on the downloaded file and select 'Run as administrator'.

The script deletes a branch from the registry, but saves it on the desktop first.

May 2022

Various transmission systems for online meetings and hybrid teaching are now available in the ICBM. These are set up in

• W15 0-023 Permanently installed system: Rally(description as pdf)
• W15 0-027 Mobile system: MeetUp(description as pdf)
• W15 1-146 Permanently installed system: Rally(description in pdf)
• WHV conference room Permanently installed system: Rally (descriptionas pdf)

Mar 2022:

Our online conference system Big Blue Button has been updated to version 2.4.

A nice list of the most important changes can be found here.