Multi-factor authentication (MFA) will be deployed to the staff and students of UEF in phases by June 2021. MFA enables reliable identification of the Office 365 users of the university and prevents the phishing and abuse of usernames.
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Category: IT Services
Study Teams with video guidance
Whether you are a UEF employee or a student you can study the Teams basics course (new tab) independently with video tutorials. Before starting the course check first online e-learning instruction (new tab).
For more information on Teams courses, see the UEF Knowledge Work project page (new tab).
Network Maintenance on Wednesday, 16th September
Maintenance begins on 16th September at 6:15 PM
Maintenance will end on 16th September at 8:00 PM (the maintenance may be finished sooner)
The maintenance work may cause outages on many UEF services.
The goal of scheduling this maintenance so soon is to improve the stability of the networking environment – and to fix the issues which have plagued networking during the last few weeks.
We apologize for the inconvenience of the short notice.
Data connections at UEF are now working better
Troubleshooting and repairs relating to the disruptions in UEF’s data connections continued throughout last weekend in collaboration between the equipment supplier and UEF’s own experts. Following these repairs, monitoring and testing carried out early this week now indicate that data connections are working better, and no new disruptions have occurred.
Network connections can be used normally. The situation is still being monitored closely, and the replacement of the firewall service and old equipment by new one will proceed as communicated earlier.
To secure access to the internet during events that are deemed critically important, back-up connections will continue to be made available through mobile access points that use 4G mobile phone networks. To determine and assess the need for a back-up connection for your event, please contact Servicedesk.
Further information and contact details: Servicedesk, tel. +358 294 458880
Read the previous bulletin on Yammer (sign in with UEF account).
Logging in to UEF email
Easiest way to login to UEF email is to use the direct address portal.office.com (new tab) or the link on top of Kamu. Google search “uef email” offers an expired link that usually doesn’t work (owa.uef.fi).
Use username@uef.fi to login to your UEF email.
Login Errors With User Accounts – Fixed
Update 7.8. at 8:48:
The system error causing login issues has now been fixed, including email.
Update 5.8. at 14:15:
The system error affecting service logins has been fixed with one exception: email. Logging into the email service may still fail, affecting the use of Moodle and Digistart assignments. Fixing the email login problems is still work in progress. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Update 4.8. at 15:08:
The cause for the error has been found and a fix is running. We will notify you when access rights have been restored.
Original post:
There are a number of UEF Account permissions problems due to a system error. The fix is currently being prepared.
Login problems may affect various services such as WebOodi and student email. We’ll post a note to the kamu News page when the error has been fixed and logging into services works again.
We apologize for the inconvenience
Library, Oppari or IT Services? Who to contact when you have problems with programmes or connections?
Regarding Security and Privacy in the Zoom Service
The security of Zoom, used in online teaching and meetings, has been much discussed in media recently. UEF has taken a closer look at the discussion and sorted out the security implications.
The Zoom service used in UEF is offered and implemented by CSC through NORDUnet. The service is located in Sweden and it’s used by Nordic education and science communities. Security and privacy statements of the service are in line with both European and national information security legislations.
The Zoom service offered by CSC is technically different from the free to use American Zoom service offered by Zoom Video Communications, Inc. The leaked phone numbers and credit card numbers mentioned in media do not apply to the Zoom service offered by CSC. The cloud storage feature has been disabled in the Zoom service used in UEF. Any recordings made of online teaching sessions or meetings have not been stored outside the EU, they have been stored in the users’ devices only.
Media has reported that the Attendee attention tracking feature in Zoom can be used by the organizer to track the activity of participants. This feature can only be used to see if a participant’s Zoom session is active not. This feature has been turned off by default in UEF and is now disabled completely, so the organizer cannot activate it anymore.
Media has also reported that the Zoom iOS app (iPhone, iPad), leaks device data to Facebook, and that Zoom has failed to mention this feature in its App Store EULA. The leaks were related to the app’s Facebook login feature, which passed on device data to Facebook when launching or closing the app. Zoom has removed this feature from the iOS app in the updated version 4.6.9., so updating the app from App Store is recommended. The device data passed on to Facebook contains only device technical information, which is by itself not enough to recognize a single user.
Furthermore, media has spotlighted an old vulnerability in Zoom, allowing an attacker to spy on the cameras and microphones in Apple MacBooks. The vulnerability was published in July 2019 and patched by Zoom in July 2019. It’s recommended to always use the latest versions of apps and install any security updates without delay.
It has also been reported that some Zoom meetings have received uninvited guests or been disrupted with inappropriate video clips. This is a common problem with online meetings. Anyone with the invite link may participate in open online meetings. The organizer can control participation with password or login requirements and choose if joining is allowed to anyone or registered users only.
If you have further questions regarding the security of Zoom, please contact: servicedesk@uef.fi
SPSS 25 lisences
SPSS licenses for home computers are valid until 1.3.2020. New codes that are valid until 31.7.2020, can already be ordered from asiointi.uef.fi.
The UEF computers use a license server that has already been updated and don’t need actions from the users.
License term will be changed to be 1.8.-31.7. The change causes a shorter than normal validity period for the new licenses.
The version will be changed to SPSS 26 on 1.8.2020. More information about the change will be available when the change is near. The version change means that the codes work for only SPSS version 26 after 1.8.2020, the version 25 cannot be used.
We will inform in Yammer when the new version is available (in July).
New actions against phishing: Safe Links
University of Eastern Finland is again a target of active phishing. IT Services seeks to develop actions again phishing and now we are deploying a Microsoft O365 information security feature, Safe Links. IT Services’ staff has used it already for some time and it seems to work effectively against phishing links.
Safe Links protects against phishing links in email messages and Office documents. For example, when the user clicks a link in an email message, the service checks the link’s UEF address before opening it. If the URL is blocked or determined to be malicious, the user gets a warning page, eg. “This website was blocked by your Office 365 administrator”.
Safe Links protection adds a certain starting string in the front of the link (eg. ”https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/”). For now we have not noticed that Safe Links protection had caused any negative effects to the use of the services. However, if you notice a case, where Safe Links prevents the use of some IT service, please contact Service Desk.