Archive Edition: April 2007

Library Computing Upgraded

Thirty-eight brand new Dell Optiplex-745 computers with 19in flat panels are slated to become available for student use in the horseshoe.  By the end of April, 2007, the 1st floor computing area will be refreshed.   The new equipment will also run updated software including new versions of Internet Explorer (see below for new anti-phishing tips), Firefox, SPSS, Acrobat, SCI Finder – plus new Net ID logon software. Group computers located at both ends of the horseshoe will also be equipped with an updated version of Photoshop CS.

Shortly after the revamp of the 1st floor public computing area will be an upgrade of the lab on the 2nd floor, which is primarily used for bibliographic instruction.

USFSP Library Website Redesign Project

With funding from the Florida Center for Library Automation (FLCA), the library will soon be overhauling the Nelson Poynter Library Web site.  An additional copy of the new Web site will also be housed in Tampa so that student access won’t be interrupted if there is local network issue. The new equipment will speed access to Distance Learning courses, and also facilitate an expansion of classes online.  Please click here to learn about distance learning.

Gone Fishin' - Don't Get Caught by Phishers!

Besides hackers and spammers, phishing is a new danger for on-line users. Phishing is the practice of distributing emails that look exactly like those of reputable businesses and organizations.  For example, a phishing email may say that there’s an outstanding Amazon.com balance and that a payment must be made immediately.  If you have an Amazon.com account you may not think twice about following the link within the email; however, that link leads to a fake Amazon.com site.  The page will look identical to the real Amazon.com site, but if you look closely, there will be small, subtle differences that will show you who you are really dealing with.

To prevent being a victim of phishing, don’t click on the link, instead, open a new window through Internet Explorer or Firefox and go to the Web site independently of the email. This will guarantee an uncontaminated page that will lead to the real Web site rather than the link referenced in the email.  Another possible way to catch the phishers is to follow the link and then inspect the page for inconsistencies- but this method isn’t always reliable as the phishers have gotten very sophisticated and can copy the look of a site exactly.

One key clue is to look at the URL address as you scroll over it with your mouse in an email.  If you’re dealing with an Amazon.com copycat, the URL may be off by a letter or it may include a letter after a forward slash like www.amazon.com/a/ or www.amazonn.com.  It may also contain additional words or letters inserted after the root domain, such as www.amazon.dd.com or www.amazon.com.13.45.67.88.

Another way to protect your wallet from phishing is to purchase anti-phishing software.  These programs work much like spam filters in that they filter all URLs entered into the browser and quarantine the suspicious ones.  This may be a good way to indicate possible phishers, but it is only as good as the list of reported offenders and is not 100% up to date.  Nelson Poynter Systems recommends users to be proactive and proceed with caution if a suspicious email manages to beat the system and ends up in your inbox.  When in doubt, resort to other means of contact, such as an independent email to the company or a phone call.

To learn more about anti-phishing programs visit www.Microsoft.com

QuickTips

Free USB Drives

USB flashdrives will become available for checkout in May.

Opening Email Attachments

Before opening an email attachment, please make sure to save it to the temporary drive first.  Once it's saved to this drive, you will have no trouble opening the attachment.