Author: Erik Yarberry

BuckeyePass and the Remote Desktop Server for Students

Passwords alone are no longer secure enough to protect certain kinds of data. Increased phishing attacks against higher-educational institutions, increases in identity theft crimes, and data breaches on other websites where usernames and passwords may have become exposed all contribute to the need for multi-factor authentication. Attackers will no longer be able to access sensitive information with just a stolen password. That’s where BuckeyePass and multi-factor authentication come in. Multi-factor authentication adds a second layer of security that combines something you know (like your password) with something you have (a mobile device or phone).

Beginning May 5th, 2017, users will authenticate using this additional step when logging into the CON Remote Desktop Server. If you plan to use the Remote Desktop Server, please take a few minutes to visit http://buckeyepass.osu.edu to sign up for a BuckeyePass account and enroll a device. When you log into the Remote Desktop Server after May 5th, you will receive an authentication request on your enrolled device to be approved before the login is processed.

If you need assistance signing up for a BuckeyePass account, please call (614) 688-HELP.

For detailed instructions on how BuckeyePass will integrate with the CON Remote Desktop Server, please see the documentation on the IT section of Studentweb here:
https://studentweb.con.ohio-state.edu/it

 

BuckeyePass (Duo Multi-Factor Authentication) coming to the College of Nursing

Multi-factor authentication adds a second layer of security that combines something you know (like your password) with something you have (a mobile device or phone). With just a few changes, users can take advantage of the new security measures now when authenticating to the CON VPN (known sometimes as NetExtender or SonicWall). Both single-factor and multi-factor authentication methods will be available until May 5, so now is a great time to try it out and work through any issues before the old method of logging in is no longer available.

Why:

Passwords alone are no longer secure enough to protect certain kinds of data. Increased phishing attacks against higher-educational institutions, increases in identity theft crimes, and data breaches on other websites where usernames and passwords may have become exposed all contribute to the need for multi-factor authentication. Attackers will no longer be able to access sensitive information with just a stolen password.

When:

The new, multi-factor VPN is already active and available for use. The existing, single-factor VPN will remain active until May 5th, 2017. Faculty, staff, and students connecting to the VPN will need to use the address vpn.nursing.osu.edu.

The Remote Desktop Server will begin requiring Duo authentication on the same day.

How:

Most faculty and staff have already activated their Duo account, as it is required to log into Employee Self-Service. If you have not already, please click here for more information on how to register and activate. If you need assistance, please call (614) 688-HELP.

https://buckeyepass.osu.edu/

Once you have activated, you will need to set up a new connection in your NetExtender or SonicWall Mobile Connect application. For more detailed instructions, click here.

There is a general Panopto tutorial here.

CON Website Maintenance

Summary

CON web services experienced an outage between 11am Monday, December 26th until 2pm Tuesday, December 27th. The sites are now back up and can be viewed, but persistent infrastructure issues prevent content from being modified. As work continues, some sites will be taken offline for a brief period after business hours for testing. We do not currently have an estimated time for the restoration of these services, but will post live updates here as fixes are applied.

The following services are currently being worked on:

  • eLearning (Moodle) – 50% ~ approx. completion by 1/6/17 EOB.
  • Cloud Services (cloud.nursing.osu.edu) – ~ approx. completion by 1/12/17 EOB.
  • REDCap Services (redcap.nursing.osu.edu) – 0%

The following services have been fully restored:

  • Background Authentication Services, 12/28/16 3:12 AM, Allows us to start migration of users with new method of authentication and migration support.
  • Our merchant services, transactions, event registrations, form submissions, past records, etc. have been migrated and are now fully active and supported with the new usernames and authentication. 12/29/16 4:15 AM
  • Central authentication user data and roles, 12/28/16 5:34 PM
  • CON Website. 12/28/16 11:05 PM
  • AcCELL Website. 12/28/16 11:40 PM
  • Centennial Website. 12/28/16 11:40 PM
  • Health Athlete Website (HANA). 12/28/16 11:40 PM
  • Healthy Academics Website (BHAC). 12/28/16 12:10 PM
  • Master of Applied Clinical and Preclinical Research Website (MACPR). 12/28/16 12:10 PM
  • Master of Healthcare and Innovation Website (MHI). 12/28/16 12:10 PM
  • Patched merchant services interactions with CON form systems. 1/3/17 11:55 AM
  • Directory services (sharepoint and website) are operational and updating. 1/3/17 1:57 PM
  • Data migration has been finished on all CMS systems including the College of Nursing website. 1/5/17 3:15 AM
  • Data migration work is concluding on iPeer, majority of work is completed with some legacy courses and users being migrated by hand at the moment. 1/6/17 5:52 PM.
  • Data sync services have been restored between Authentication, Directory, API, Mailing, and Web Services after migration and service alteration. 1/5/17 5:31 AM.
  • An issue regarding legacy publishing and accessing older revisions (pre-2014) on the College of Nursing website has been resolved. 1/5/17 5: 10 PM.
  • An issue regarding the ability to login with certain OSU passwords has been resolved.  1/6/17 2:05 PM
  • An issue regarding permissions mapping for certain role types on the College of Nursing website has been resolved. Improvements have been made for first-time users.  1/6/17 4:12 PM
  • Blogs (blogs.nursing.osu.edu). 1/06/2017 10:00 PM

The following services are fully disabled due to the need for a full migration:

  • Cloud (cloud.nursing.osu.edu)

Please contact us at con-it@osu.edu with questions.

CON Firewall Upgrade Status

Friday, Feb 20

Update 1: 5:00 pm – The CON IT team has started the firewall upgrade project.  Right now, all systems are down and are being moved over to the new network configuration.  We will update this page as we make progress.

Update 2: 8:30 pm – Most services have been changed to accept the new firewall configuration, but will not be available until the router and switches have been configured.

Update 3: 11:00 pm – Router and switches have been configured, but we are experiencing issues with DNS (web site name) resolution.

Saturday, Feb 21

Update 4: 3:00 am – Still experiencing issues with DNS resolution and OSU.edu authentication, but we are beginning to restore internal web and file services.  Client computers from within the building should be able to access the internet.

Update 5: 4:00 am – We are making progress in restoring services from within Newton Hall.  Network drives and websites are available internally but are not yet available outside of Newton Hall.  We are stopping for the night and will return tomorrow.

Update 6: 10:00 am Saturday – We are beginning work again.

Update 7: 12:00 pm – Remaining routing issues, DNS resolution, and OSU.edu authentication have been resolved.  Client computers, file servers, and some web servers (including Panopto) are available.

Update 8: 3:00 pm – VPN, SharePoint, Studentweb, Nucleus, Panopto, Network drives (H:, N:, W:, R:), Remote Desktop Server, and Wireless have all been restored and should be accessible.

Update 9: 5:00 pm – We are running OS updates on some systems which may cause brief service interruptions.  The nursing.osu.edu website is still experiencing issues.

Update 10: 10:00 pm – Most printers are back up.  The most CON websites are up (nursing.osu.edu, iPeer), but payment forms are not yet available.

Update 11: 11:30 pm – Some extended functionality of the nursing website has been brought up, client PCs and printers are available.  We are concluding work for the evening but will be back tomorrow to continue to upgrade the security of our new infrastructure.

Sunday, Feb 22

Update 12: 11:30 am – We are beginning work again.

Update 13: 5:00 pm – We have completed work.  All services should be back up and operational.  If you need assistance, please contact us by email at con-informationtechnology@osu.edu.

Thank you for your patience,

CON IT Team