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IT Center Blog

Kategorie: ‘IT-Security’

Cybersecurity 101: Protecting the Digital Footprint in the Digital Age

July 3rd, 2023 | by
Three footprints with blue digital background

Source: Own Illustration

In today’s digital age, our lives are increasingly intertwined with the online world. From social media profiles to online banking accounts, we leave a digital footprint that can be vulnerable to cyber threats. Protecting our digital presence and maintaining online privacy is more important now than ever. In this blog post, we’ll go over the basics of cybersecurity and provide practical tips for protecting your digital footprint.

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WiFi News – Part 3: New Root, Old WiFi

June 30th, 2023 | by
Router, notepad, and smartphone

Source: Freepik

On May 23, 2023, the server certificate of our authentication server “radius.rz.rwth-aachen.de” had expired. For that reason a new certificate was implemented in the system. In the first post of this blog series we informed you about this.

Now a larger change is coming up: In the future, the new certification instance GÉANT/TCS will be used and replace DFN-PKI Global. As a consequence a new Radius certificate and certification chain will be used. This migration will take place on August 1, 2023.

Eduroam will be affected with regard to registration and configuration. The exact background and what you have to do, to continue using eduroam, we will explain in the following blog post. Read the rest of this entry »

WLAN News – Part 2: eduroam and certificates

June 16th, 2023 | by
Top view of the Wifi icon

Source: Freepik

The Wi-Fi network eduroam is available on the entire campus of the RWTH Aachen University. If you have already configured eduroam on your mobile devices and chosen an automatic connection, your devices will connect to eduroam in the background. This happens as soon as your devices detect a network with the name eduroam in the vicinity.

Behind a secure connection to eduroam lie certificate structures that guarantee this security. But how exactly do these processes work? In the following blog post, we hope to provide answers to these and other questions.

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QR Code Attacks

June 12th, 2023 | by
QR Code with mobile phone

Source: Own illustration

QR codes have become increasingly popular in recent years and are now used in almost all areas – whether in advertising, retail or public spaces. Especially since the Corona pandemic, QR codes have gained a lot of importance. For example, they made contact tracking in restaurants or contactless ordering in the catering industry possible. Many users appreciate QR codes because of their simplicity and the time they save, as they can be easily captured with a smartphone. At the same time, however, QR codes can also pose a threat to IT security. In this article, we’ll explain what you should always keep in mind when using QR codes.

 

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Multifactor Authentication in IdM Selfservice

May 31st, 2023 | by

IT security is a major and important topic at RWTH Aachen University and the IT Center.

Data protection title with a big blue digital lock on a dark blue background.

Source: Freepik

Already in 2021, it was reported that the introduction of multifactor-authentication (Mfa) would provide systems with greater security against unauthorized access.

In order to offer the MFA protection to further services the IdM Selfservice is now equipped with the so-called “MFA Tokenmanager”.

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Discontinuation of “Sophos Antivirus” – What You Have to Do Now

May 24th, 2023 | by
Drawing of a cloud surrounded by lock, shield, and wifi symbol

Source: Freepik

Within the framework of an NRW state license agreement, institutions of the RWTH Aachen University can use the virus scanner “Sophos Antivirus” as well as the corresponding management console “Sophos Enterprise Console” free of charge. In addition, members of the RWTH are allowed to use the software privately.

Now the company “Sophos” has discontinued the on-premises variants of its virus scanner as well as the management console “Sophos Enterprise Console” on July 20, 2023. Starting then, these products will no longer be provided with updates by the manufacturer. To find out if and/or how this is relevant to you, continue reading this blog post.

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WiFi News – Part 1: New Certificate for the RADIUS Server

May 17th, 2023 | by
Front view of smartphone and WiFi router

Source: Freepik

For the expiration of the server certificate of our authentication server radius.rz.rwth-aachen.de the certificate on the system will be exchanged on May 23, 2023. This has already been announced in the status message portal.

You will be affected by these changes the next time you log in to eduroam. What you have to do to continue using the WiFi, we explain in the following blog post.

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ADAM – Active Directory Campaign

May 15th, 2023 | by

The “Managed Service Active Directory” service has been officially discontinued by the end of 2023.

Red index card with a folder logo

Source: Freepik

There were several reasons for discontinuing this managed service. Among other things, the additional costs for the users, the high administrative maintenance effort and the insufficient scalability contributed to this decision.

Howevery, the IT Center of RWTH Aachen University already offers its facilities a far more advantageous alternative: the Active Directory for Workplace Management (ADAM for short).
After a three year project and pilot phase, during which the web interface and a security concept were designed, the managed service has now been introduced.

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World Backup Day – Back Up Your Data Today!

March 31st, 2023 | by
Laptop with backup lettering

Source: Own illustration

In an increasingly digitalized world where we create, exchange and store countless pieces of information every day, the topic of data backup is becoming more and more important. We all depend on our data, whether at work, in education or in our private lives. But this valuable information can be lost quickly, for example, due to technical failures, cyberattacks or even human error. The number of incidents in which companies and private individuals suffer data loss is increasing every year. An effective data protection strategy is therefore more important than ever before. Read the rest of this entry »

Increase Safety on Social Media

March 27th, 2023 | by
Social Media Icons

Source: Freepik

Social media has influenced and simplified our everyday lives in many ways. It allows us to quickly and easily stay in touch with friends and family, keep up with news and trends, and share our lives online. But using social media also comes with certain risks, especially when it comes to privacy and IT security.

In this blog post, we will explain how you can keep yourself safe and what you should pay special attention to when using social media. Read the rest of this entry »