June, 2003
Back Issues Computer Security Help Request Software Downloads Computer Backups Buy a Computer Suggestion Box Email Calendar Onsite Computer Training ITSD    CIS    ISS    NTD    TEID		Outgoing CSAC Chair Ali Belkacem (right) chats with his successor, Michel Van Hove. Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt/TEID. Thanks and Congratulations to Outgoing CSAC Chair Ali Belkacem Since he joined the Lab’s advisory committee on computing services in 1990, Ali Belkacem has seen a lot of infrastructure changes, such as centrally supported email, an overhaul of the Lab’s business applications, and establishment of a central Help Desk to keep desktop systems up and running. And for the past four years, as chair of the Computing and Communications Services Advisory Committee (CSAC), Belkacem has taken a lead role in evaluating current services and shaping future ones. Lab Browsing for a New Browser: What’s Next After Netscape? The Information Technologies and Services Division, which provides the Lab with centralized email, calendar and business applications, is evaluating the Mozilla browser as an alternative for the currently recommended Netscape 4.75 email client and Web browser. The effort is called BEEP, for Browser and Email Evaluation Project. City College of San Francisco Professor Sam Bowne (foreground) and other community college teachers learn the ins and outs of Windows troubleshooting from Craig Nelson during a training session at the Lab. Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt/TEID. ITSD Hosts Annual Hands-On Training for College Instructors The Information Technologies and Services Division hosted 22 Bay Area community college instructors for two days of discussion and training this month as part of a continuing effort to help faculty keep their computing and networking curricula up to date. Lab Works with Colleges to Develop Courses with Career Applications One of the major issues discussed during a two-day training program for community college teachers was the continuing effort to create a model curriculum for all IT programs within the 26-college Bay Region. HomePlug: A New Option for Your Home Network You already have a house full of power wires. Why not use them as part of your home network? HomePlug technology is an easy-to-use, inexpensive alternative to traditional Ethernet wiring and 802.11 wireless. HomePlug makes use of your existing AC power lines to transmit data. Tip of the Month: Email Forgeries Are Confusing and Increasing, Thanks to Viruses Recently, the Computer Infrastructure Technologies Group (CITG) was contacted by a Lab employee with a question about a message (a series of letters and numbers) apparently sent from the employee’s Lab email address to a woman in cyberspace. The woman wrote back to the employee, asking how he got her email address, adding she got a similar message from another unknown sender. Still Using the Netscape Calendar Client? Upgrade to the Newest Version by Oracle If you rely on the Lab's electronic calendaring system and are still using the old Netscape version, it's time to upgrade. The Netscape Calendar client is more than four years old, buggy, not as intuitive to use, lacks features, is out of date, and hasn't been supported by Netscape since 2000.
				Protecting Your Computer
				Objectively Evaluate the Security of Your System! How secure is your system? You may *feel* that your system is secure, but it may in reality not be nearly as secure as you think. The Center for Information Security has developed free security benchmark utilities that can be run on systems to perform an objective security evaluation. July Computer Protection Brown Bag Will Feature a Video At the next Computer Protection Brown Bag Event, a fascinating video, "Solar Sunrise: Dawn of a New Threat," will be shown. This video, produced in cooperation with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), portrays an FBI/NIPC computer hacker investigation involving attacks on U.S. computer systems. Be sure to reserve noon on Tuesday, July 8 on your calendar for this event. Windows Desktop Systems Security Course to Be Offered Next If you use Windows 95, 98, Me, Windows NT Workstation, Windows 2000 Professional, or Windows XP and you haven't taken LBNL's short course on securing desktop systems, you should plan to attend the next Windows Desktop Security Course to be held Wednesday, July 9 from 9:30-11:30 a.m. in the Bldg. 50 auditorium. Read the course description. Enroll here. Monthly Virus Update: Bugbear.B Worm Causing Trouble The W32.Bugbear.B@mm worm is currently causing more trouble than any other new worm. A mutation of W32.Bugbear@mm, Bugbear.B spreads in Windows systems through email attachments and unprotected shares. Beware of New Internet Ploy A new social engineering attempt that appears to be coming from mcafee.com (and perhaps other sources) is already causing trouble for Internet users. Email messages that claim a user has sent an email message containing a virus and that the user needs to go to the URL specified in the message to download a tool that will clean the user's computer are being sent to many users. The Lab's Computer Protection Program urges you NOT to comply. The tool is a Trojan horse program; if you download the "tool," your system will be compromised. Don't fall prey to this new attack!