Kategorie: ‘IT-Security’
New Year’s Resolutions for More IT Security
Source: Freepik
For many, it’s part of the New Year’s ritual: New Year’s resolutions! According to Statista, the top three resolutions in Germany this year include saving more money, doing more sport, and eating more healthily. 17% of respondents even said they wanted to spend less time on social networks. When using social media, however, it is also important to make the user experience itself as secure as possible.
In the following blog post, we introduce you to five resolutions that will help you increase your IT security and support your approach to IT.
Security Mechanisms Unravelled: MFA
Source: Freepik
Multifactor-authentication (MFA) is a security method that enables access to digital resources such as devices, networks or online services by combining multiple authentication factors. Essentially, MFA requires at least two independent confirmations of a user’s identity to access the resource.
Social Engineering: Deception in Cyberspace
Source: Freepik
In the world of cyber security, it’s not just technology that plays a crucial role. People are an equally important factor, and this is where social engineering comes in. This sophisticated method specifically exploits human behaviour and weaknesses to gain access to sensitive data or cause damage.
Warning About Free Outlook Apps
Source: Freepik
Attention! Microsoft has released new free apps for Outlook. However, the new Outlook apps store your login data (login name and password) in the Microsoft cloud. Emails are also transmitted to Microsoft without your consent.
Therefore, business use is prohibited for information security and data protection reasons. We also strongly advise against private use.
License-based Outlook programs, for example from Microsoft Office, and the Outlook Web App (OWA), which can be opened via a browser, are not affected. These may continue to be used. There are currently no security concerns, as these applications communicate directly with the RWTH Aachen University mail servers and no data is transferred to the Microsoft cloud.
We have put together a short FAQ for you on what you should know about this.
Changing Shared User Data When Logging in to Services
Source: Freepik
Currently you are being asked for your consent when logging in to services.
Why is this happening?
IDM.nrw is a project of the Digital University NRW. The aim is to lighten the effort for universities to access and provide services to each other throughout NRW.
IT Fairytale Hour – Part 2
Source: Freepik
Today we continue with our series, “All about the myths in the world of IT”.
If you missed the first part of the myths, feel free to check out our last post.
“The full moon causes sleepless nights” – a myth we all know. Experts have long since proven that the moon does not have magical powers. The brightness releases less melatonin in the brain, which helps us fall asleep.
So it’s worth taking another close look at widespread half-truths.
In the world of IT, there are myths that we can get to the bottom of together.
Today, it’s all about IT security and what you should know about it.
E-Mail Security – Evaluation of DMARC Policy for Incoming Emails
Source: Pixabay
In the fourth part of our e-mail security series, we would like to inform you about an innovation in our e-mail security policy.
After we reported on e-mail, e-mail statistics at RWTH Aachen University, and the SMTP protocol and its pitfalls in the first and second articles, and informed you about the DKIM identification protocol and DMARC in the third article, this fourth part is now about a new e-mail security requirement. To ensure that RWTH can continue to provide a secure e-mail service in the future, we have decided to introduce the evaluation of a sender’s DMARC policy when accepting mail at the university’s central mail gateway. You can find out what this means in this blog post.
Requesting User Certificates via the RA Portal – Info for End Users
Source: Freepik
As of August 15, 2023, you can request user certificates from GÉANT/TCS in the RA portal. The DFN-PKI Global used so far will cease operation on August 30, 2023.
User certificates function like a digital ID card. They are personal, which means that you can uniquely identify yourself as a user. You can use them to sign documents or e-mails and thus prove that you personally digitally signed a document or sent an e-mail.
You need a user certificate for your e-mail address? You already have a user certificate from DFN-PKI Global? How do you proceed now? In this blog post we would like to provide clarity and answer these and other questions on the subject.
Requesting User Certificates (S/MIME) via the RA Portal – Info for IT Admins
Source: Freepik
Yesterday, August 15, 2023, the RA portal (ra-portal.itc.rwth-aachen.de) was additionally enabled for the issuance of user certificates in the GÉANT/TCS (PKI). From August 30, 2023, it will no longer be possible to apply for new user certificates via DFN-PKI Global, as it will cease operation. Until August 29, 2023, there will thus be parallel operation with the well-known “DFN-PKI Global” service. All certificates issued until then will nevertheless retain their validity status for a maximum of 3 years after certificate issuance. In this blog post you can find out what tasks will now arise for IT administrators. Read the rest of this entry »
The IT Center Picture Puzzle: IT Center Management
Quelle: Eigene Darstellung
#MeetMeWednesday: Our blog series “The IT Center Picture Puzzle” is drawing to a close, and to cap it all off, we have a particularly interesting interview in store for you. This time, the IT Center Management, Professor Müller and Mr. Bündgens, answer our questions. They talk about their daily tasks as well as about exciting projects and developments that will soon take place at the IT Center.
By the way, the key word we were looking for was “leadership”. Could you guess it? Find out more in this article.
