Technology Updates

Network printers and related multifunction devices are insecure by default. These devices provide a large out-of-the-box feature set with little to no default security. Most printers will allow a remote intruder full administrative access unless the printer administrator appropriately configures the device. An unsecured printer can be used for the following: Disclosure of user data (e.g., intruders obtain copies of your documents) Attack other systems (e.g., printers are commonly used as part of Denial of Service attacks to route large numbers of messages to the attack target) Print spam messages This page is for local IT support teams setting up printers for others as well as for individuals setting up their own printers. Follow these required and recommended steps to secure printers and related devices on the UW network. Recommended: Let UW Managed Print Services do it For UW faculty, staff and administrative units, UW Managed Print Services can place and support printers fo...

The network administrator of the future will focus on managing Internet bandwidth and connectivity. For small data centers, networks will move increasingly to the cloud. This makes your pipe even more important; a saturated pipe could spell disaster. Traffic sharing will become even more important in the future. Security will continue to impinge on the traditional network administration role, who will be tasked with drafting corporate security policies and preventing DDOS attacks against the data Center’s Internet provider.  Today, the data center is the business, and organizations that fail in the efficient operation will negatively affect deployment of day-to-day business applications. What was once the standard in the data center is now being displaced and reshaped into new models. These deployments are the only method for staying ahead of the bandwidth-intensive traffic requirements of the future state. Low-latency server-to-server, intra-server, and machine-to-virtual architect...

When it comes to cloud services and software-as-a-service (SaaS), we're all familiar with the usual cloud providers. But for small businesses and larger enterprises, there's a huge world of opportunity and available resources beyond those best-known cloud storage and cloud computing services: Google, Dropbox, Salesforce, Amazon and Microsoft. In this guide to services for business, we're looking at 24 incredibly valuable services that solve real-world business problems. A few of you may have heard about before. Many may be new to you. All are capable of providing nearly instant benefit -- without you having to make any infrastructure investment whatsoever. Often, these bottlenecks aren't because a higher-up didn't actually want the project to go through, but simply never got around to signing off. The approval email might have gotten lost or, if you're still on paper approvals, buried in a huge inbox mound. If you're dealing with accounting and financ...

The problems with passwords are well known. System administrators leave passwords on their default settings. End users create easy-to-remember passwords that are easy to crack, they write them down, they reuse them, and they share them. Even passwords that look random may be easy to crack, if they map to words in a foreign language. Discovering Passwords It doesn’t even matter if users try to protect their passwords. Bad actors have lots of different ways to try to discover them, including: • phishing:  sending users to a website where they enter their data • social engineering: interacting directly with users and persuading them to share personal information • keystroke loggers: malware that captures every key users hit • sniffers: reading passwords from an unencrypted network • cracking: attempting to decrypt or guess the user’s password • password reset: using password reset systems to create a new password • buying: data breaches have released large quantities...

Many people will probably tell you that you need some form of degree in computer science, but that isn’t necessarily the case. Like most technical jobs there are a few qualifications and certificates you may need. One of the top qualifications you will benefit from is a CCNA, which is a Cisco Certified Network Associate certification. It will test both your theory of computer networking but also your practical knowledge in which you might be asked to do within a junior networking engineering role. As a well-respected certification in the industry not only do you look qualified but companies are aware that these tests are difficult to take. Employers For most employers they like to know the network engineer they are employing has some form of technical knowledge, giving them a level of assurance you will know what to do when you start a new role. Having well-qualified network engineers gives makes the company more reliable to work with for customers and helps to boost profitability....

The network manager job description and responsibilities can be varied -- depending in part on whether the organization relies on a managed service provider -- but generally, the network manager role includes the following duties: ·          Managing and maintaining the network, as well as network performance monitoring ·          Identifying, installing and maintaining upgrades to the network ·          Troubleshooting and repair ·          Overseeing user access to the network ·          Developing a backup/disaster recovery plan for a network emergency ·          Planning network infrastructure for new applications and services ·          Training network staff to provide support to end u...