We have just released our聽2018 Year in Review. This report highlights some of our achievements in key areas, including:

• Supporting teaching and learning with CU-wireless enhancements and the launch of a new Academic Status Report.
• Supporting research with OVPRI collaborations and the services offered by our Research Computing Services team.
• Protecting university assets with two-factor authentication and data centre enhancements.
• Providing interactive platforms with the launch of the Marketplace and the new FutureFunder website.

Read more about these initiatives in our 2018 Year in Review.

We are proud of what we have achieved in the past year聽and the many collaborations we have across campus.

Wishing you the best in 2019!

This month is Cyber Security Awareness Month. This is an internationally recognized campaign focused on helping us all be more secure online. So naturally, this edition is all about cyber security.

Data Breaches

With the ever-growing use of the internet, the importance of cyber security has never been higher:

• 聽containing personal and sensitive data were compromised between January 1^st, 2017 and March 20^th, 2018
• 聽some sort of data breach
• a single data breach will cost the average company about聽
• 聽are due to weak passwords and聽聽the most common forms of attacks still begin with simple phishing emails

The Big Three

Rarely a week passes without news of some data breach that occurred.聽 Just last weekend聽聽and you may recall these massive data breaches:

• 2013 鈥� Yahoo:聽聽were subjected to a data breach. This information came to light while Yahoo was in negotiations to sell itself to Verizon and this incident ended up knocking $350 million off the sale price.
• 2014 鈥� eBay:聽聽were impacted in this breach after hackers had access to the company鈥檚 network for 229 days
• 2017 鈥� Equifax: impacted over聽聽customers and cost the company more than聽聽making it the most costly hack to date

The Future of Cyber Security

The cyber security industry is in great need of experts. The private, public and governmental sectors are all investing heavily in attracting and retaining cyber security talent; the proof is in the numbers:

• The demand for cyber talent in Canada is increasing by聽
• Unfilled cyber security jobs are expected to reach聽聽鈥� compared to about 1 million in 2016.
• 聽is what organizations plan to spend on cybersecurity in 2020 alone
• 杏吧原创 University offers聽program options, including a聽

Cyber Security: Our Shared Responsibility

We all have a shared responsibility when it comes to protecting our devices, networks, and data. 聽Here are some simple things you can do:

• Protect your accounts with strong authentication.聽 Create a strong password (try using pass phrases as opposed to words), have separate passwords for every account, and use two-factor authentication wherever possible.
• Beware the phish:聽Beware of emails that ask for your password, have a call for immediate action, or offer something that sounds too good to be true.
• Back it up:聽Protect your work, music, photos and other digital information by making an electronic copy and storing it safely.

5 Things we Thought you Should Know

1. We鈥檙e moving from Banner 8 to聽.
2. Coffee Break with Web Services聽took place yesterday,聽here鈥檚 a recap.
3. We鈥檝e launched a new weekly video series called聽.
4. We鈥檝e completed our two-factor authentication pilot.
5. We have a new president, and聽he has a blog.

The age of driverless vehicles is quickly moving from futuristic dream to present-day reality. This month鈥檚 Spotlight is all about autonomous vehicles and making smarter cars.

What is an autonomous vehicle?

Automation levels

There are five different levels of driving automation. At Level 1, the vehicle assists with some functions. This could be a car system that issues warnings or brakes a little for you when too close to another vehicle. At the other extreme is Level 5 (鈥渟teering wheel optional鈥�). No human intervention is required for driving 鈥� for example, a robotic taxi.

Today鈥檚 Spotlight focuses on Level 5 鈥� autonomous vehicles that are capable of navigating the environment without human input. These are also known as self-driving, driverless or robotic cars.

Navigating without a human

Autonomous vehicles detect their surroundings in several different ways including, radar, laser light, motion sensors, GPS and computer vision. Control systems analyze sensory data to 鈥渟ee鈥� other cars and distinguish obstacles on the road. This enables driverless cars to make sense of their current environment. company to test a prototype of an autonomous vehicle.

What makes self-driving cars feasible now?

Several advances in technology make self-driving cars a current reality.

Machine learning
Autonomous vehicles use machine-learning algorithms to create models that detect obstacles and make predictions. The goal is systems that perceive and act from data. For example, self-driving cars learn to avoid other cars by analyzing video frames from an onboard camera.

Internet of Things
The Internet of Things connects everyday objects through embedded computer devices and the Internet. In the case of self driving cars, it has been described as a that is dynamic and continuously being updated. For example, smart cars can register and share real-time traffic alerts.

Cloud computing
Using the cloud, smart cars can access data and communicate with each other to avoid accidents, download maps, get up-to-day traffic information and determine the best route to get somewhere.

Data availability & analysis
There is more and more data at our disposal both in quantity and variety. Data storage is also becoming more affordable. Computational processing is getting cheaper and more powerful. This makes it possible to analyze complex data quickly and accurately.

杏吧原创鈥檚 Research Computing Cloud
At 杏吧原创, researchers who need high performance computing resources have access to the Research Computing and Development Cloud.

The Good and the Bad

Driverless car technology can be scary but it鈥檚 hard to deny the benefits. Here is a quick overview of some of the potential pros and cons.

Pros

Fewer accidents
are due to human error. Compared to the behaviours we exhibit behind the wheel (speeding, distracted driving, disobeying laws) a computer is the ideal motorist. For example, autonomous vehicles use a complicated algorithm to determine safe stopping and driving distance. Decisions are not subject to mental state as is the case with humans!

Greener
A steadier speed would mean less fuel consumption. It is likely a car sharing model would evolve which would mean fewer cars on the road and less traffic congestion.

Accessibility
Driverless cars could offer more freedom to some populations (e.g., elderly and persons with disabilities) who may not be able to drive.

Safely multitask
Human passengers can use commute time for things other than driving such as, reading, working, talking or even sleeping.

Boost to economy
Driverless tech could

Cons

Job loss
The need for fewer professional drivers (e.g., taxi and truck drivers) would impact the economy and unemployment rate.

Expensive
Owning a self-driving car will likely be quite expensive. There will also be a substantial cost associated with building infrastructure and roads that are friendly to autonomous vehicles.

Technology can fail
There is always the potential for unexpected glitches when it comes to tech and programming. Even if it seems flawless at first, an update with faulty code could cause errors that lead to accidents. Environmental factors (e.g., heavy rain, snow) can affect the onboard instruments that gather data to analyze driving conditions.

Ethical issues
Who is at fault in the event of an accident 鈥� the manufacturer of the vehicle, the software developer? There has already been one case where a Or who dies when the car is forced into a no-win situation? For example, should a self-driving car swerve into traffic, possibly killing its passengers and others, in order to avoid hitting a child who runs out onto the road?

Privacy and security
Just about every computing device can be hacked. This includes systems in driverless cars. Information could be accessed and exploited. Imagine if someone remotely accessed and took control of a driverless vehicle.

Autonomous Vehicle Research at 杏吧原创

杏吧原创 University is actively involved in autonomous vehicle technology, with over 125 researchers from four faculties and 13 university departments, schools and institutes engaged in research.

Research areas include: autonomous operations, data processing and management, sensor network technologies, wireless connectivity, cybersecurity, software engineering, and road and vehicle safety. Find out more at 杏吧原创鈥檚 Autonomous Vehicles website.

Recently, 杏吧原创 students held a demonstration of the technology behind connected and autonomous vehicles. Organized by Professor Richard Yu, the event demonstrated the university鈥檚 contribution in the R&D of autonomous vehicles (view full story). This past Fall, Professor Yu was awarded $974,000 from the Canadian Safety and Security Program to help enhance the cybersecurity of autonomous vehicles.

5 Things we Thought you Should

1. Online training with
Looking to upgrade or polish your skills? All 杏吧原创 staff have ongoing, free access to . This website is a great learning resource with instructional videos in areas from software and programming, to business skills. For more information, visit Learning and Development.

2. Hardware Services recycles
Did you know that in 2017, the folks in Hardware Services recycled 16,505 kg of hardware? That鈥檚 the equivalent of 11 average sized cars! Recycled items included display devices, desktop and laptop computers, computer peripherals, and printers.This recycling program provides environmentally friendly and secure disposal of E-Waste free of charge. Campus community members can drop off their e-waste at 1251 Herzberg, between 9.00 am 鈥� 3.30pm.

3. Athletics website gets a makeover
Web Services collaborated with the folks in Athletics to get their up and running. The site is built on the new 杏吧原创 Framework which allows for more design choices and customization while still being both accessible and mobile-friendly. See the new site in action at and while you are there!

4. The 杏吧原创 Marketplace is live
After an extensive pilot, the Marketplace is now live and open to all Faculty and Staff to buy and sell their goods. You will find a link to the Marketplace in the lefthand navigation menu of the intranet dashboard or go directly to:

5. Free antivirus software available for all faculty and staff
Antivirus software from Trend Micro is available for free to all faculty and staff for home use. Licenses are good for one year, after which time they expire. This year鈥檚 download is now available at:

We have just released our . This report highlights some of our achievements in key areas, including:

• Supporting research
  Providing computing resources, support and expertise to 杏吧原创 researchers

• Delivering excellent service
  Providing the best possible service to all our customers in the 杏吧原创 community

• Providing opportunities for collaboration and communication
  Facilitating ways for members of the university to share information and ideas

• Protecting university assets
  Working to ensure that our networks, data and applications are protected and secure

• Teaching and learning
  Providing our instructors and students with relevant and up-to-date technology in support of classroom and learning goals

• The way we work
  Continuously improving our processes and services

We are proud of what we have achieved in the past year聽and the many collaborations we have across campus.聽Please have a look at the full 听辞苍濒颈苍别.

Wishing you the best in 2018!

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month

This month we are participating in Cyber Security Awareness Month. We hope our campaign helps you better understand cyber threats and the simple steps you can take to minimize your risk.

Simple things like:

• Knowing how to spot suspicious emails
• Creating secure passwords
• Keeping your computers and mobile devices safe
• Recognizing which websites may be risky

Today鈥檚 spotlight is on cyber security. Keep reading for some eye-opening stats and tips on how to stay safe online.

The Impact of Data Breaches

础听data breach聽is when sensitive, protected or confidential聽data聽has potentially been viewed, stolen or used by an individual unauthorized to do so (). This may result in damage to reputation and trust, and can lead to financial loss and identity theft.

• are lost or stolen every minute. That’s 5,191,030 in one day.
• Trend Micro聽estimates that the WannaCry ransomware attack of May 2017, around the world and caused financial and economic losses of up to $4 billion.
• Recently Yahoo reported that a data breach of 2013
• 聽(so far), include E-Sports Entertainment and Xbox,聽 fast food chains Arby’s and Chipotle, retailers Saks Fifth Avenue and K-Mart, and Equifax.
• The Equifax data breach affected
• Help protect yourself from data breaches is by聽safeguarding your password.

Password Security and Why it Matters

In our modern, digital lives, we manage numerous accounts and passwords.聽Passwords can be compromised in a variety of ways. We need to know how to best keep them safe.

• involve a weak or stolen password.
• More than in 2016, with 8.2 million passwords being stolen every day (that’s聽 about 95 every second!)
• used 10 million passwords leaked in data breaches to compile a list of the most popular ones.聽They include variations of: 1234
• 56, qwerty, password and google.
• According to Keeper, with almost one in five choosing 123456.
• Use a聽to create strong passwords, track them and avoid duplication.
• Keep your password safe and secure with these 5 tips.

Safeguard your Email

Email is a popular attack vector for cyber criminals who use it to send out malware and to trick recipients into revealing sensitive information.

According to the :

• 156 million phishing emails are sent everyday
• 16 million of those (about 10%) make it through spam filters
• 8 million are opened by the end user
• 800,000 of phishing emails that are opened, lure someone into clicking on a link
• 80,000 people fall for an email scam everyday and share personal information

At 杏吧原创 we block over 85% of all inbound email as spam or viruses. Here’s how to recognize a聽phishing attempt.

Things We Thought you Should Know

1. 杏吧原创 Has a Security Operations Centre (SOC)
A SOC is a centralized unit that deals with security issues. And we have a brand new one in ITS! Its main functions are:

• Security incident and event management
• Campus network infrastructure monitoring, incident and work order management
• Technical support for security and network operations

2. Instructional Media Services (IMS) Knowledge Base
IMS recently released an聽Online Help Centre for Classroom Technology聽to help instructors with technology in the classrooms and around campus. Congrats on this great new resource!

3. OneDrive Cloud Storage
All 杏吧原创 staff and faculty have access to 1TB of cloud storage through OneDrive for Business. Backup your files to the cloud and easily share documents with your team…more.

4. 杏吧原创 E-commerce
If you need to accept聽payments for a 杏吧原创 event – conference, lecture series, workshop – check out聽杏吧原创’s E-commerce payment service. This in-house, online service is easy to use and is PCI (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) compliant.

5. Site Licensed Software聽
ITS has made special purchase arrangements for a number of software packages (such as SPSS, MatLab and Office 365). Visit the ITS site to see what is聽available through the site licensed software program.

6. Cyber Security Tips
Follow our cyber security campaign throughout October for tips on staying safe online.

Resources

Password Manager Software Reviews

Today鈥檚 spotlight is on Machine Learning.

Computers that teach themselves? Sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. But machine learning is here and is already a part of many things we do everyday.

What is Machine Learning?

• Machine learning is a kind of artificial intelligence. It allows computers to learn without being explicitly programmed.
• It uses algorithmic models, which are trained to recognize patterns in large amounts of data, to automatically make predictions.
• In other words, machine learning allows computers to learn and adapt.
• 杏吧原创鈥檚 School of Computer Science offers several on the topics of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

Why now? What makes machine learning more feasible?

• There is more and more data at our disposal – both in quantity and variety.
• Computational processing is becoming cheaper and more powerful.
• Data storage is becoming more affordable.
• This makes it possible to create models that analyze complex data quickly and accurately.
• 杏吧原创 researchers who need high performance computing resources have access to the Research Computing and Development Cloud.

Examples of machine learning

Many things we do every day are powered by machine learning algorithms:

Social Media

• When you click 鈥淟ike鈥� on Facebook, your feed is adjusted to display similar content in the future.
• Apps suggest 鈥淧eople you may know鈥� based on your connections to others.
• Image tagging automatically detects yours or your friends鈥� faces in photos you upload.

Marketing

• Recommendation engines make educated guesses based on what they think you will like.
• For example, Amazon recommends similar products and Netflix makes movie suggestions.
• Web pages and mobile apps display ads based on what you have previously looked at.

Email and Search

• Spam filters learn to classify spam based on an email鈥檚 content, subject and how you choose to filter it.
• Every time you do a Google search, the program looks at how you respond to the results – if you click, what you click and if you type in a new query. Google learns to deliver more accurate results next time around.

Transportation

• Apps, such as Waze Fastest Routes, learn which driving routes are best by analyzing driver behavior and outcomes.
• Self-driving cars learn where obstacles, road edges and other cars are by analyzing video frames from an onboard camera.
• A group from聽BlackBerry聽and its software subsidiary聽QNX Software Systems聽visited 杏吧原创 this past spring, to explore collaboration in connected car and autonomous vehicle research…

Machine Learning Research at 杏吧原创 University

Yuhong Guo is 杏吧原创鈥檚 Canada Research Chair in Machine Learning. She is interested in the question 鈥淲hat if machines could automatically learn useful skills by interacting with data that is already freely available?鈥� Her aim is to develop automatic data analysis and to reduce dependence on human input… Read more

5 Things We Thought you Should Know

1. CAUBO 2017 Quality and Productivity Awards
杏吧原创 ITS and Faculty Affairs were acknowledged for their excellent work on the new online Faculty Careers System. Congrats! The system has increased the efficiency, accuracy and timeliness of managing the faculty leaves process…聽Read more聽(story on page 29)

2. Implementing IPv6 at 杏吧原创 鈥� a case study
杏吧原创鈥檚 Mike Milne tackled the task of implementing IPv6 here at 杏吧原创. His story was recently published on the TeamARIN blog…

3. 杏吧原创 HR moves to intranet
All staff and faculty HR content is now available on the . The internal聽site contains all HR policies, documentation and forms (i.e. monthly leave forms, health claim forms, etc.) important to staff and faculty.

4. Latest web template upgrade
Web Services has migrated more than half of existing Framework sites to version 2.0 which features more layout options, streamlined front and back-end editing, and fast loading, search-engine friendly pages. See the new template in action on:聽 and Industrial Design.

5. CUAD2017
Despite the rain, 杏吧原创 University Appreciation Day聽was a great success. Thanks to the many faculty and staff who came together to celebrate.

What is the Internet of Things?

• The Internet of Things refers to the interconnection of everyday objects through embedded computer devices and the internet. For example, many kitchen appliances (check out this聽), cars and medical devices can collect and exchange data using embedded sensors.

• ! In the early 80s, programmers at Carnegie Melon University connected to it over the internet to see if there was a cold coke available.

• Amazon’s smart speaker, the聽, is the . The voice-controlled intelligent personal assistant, Alexa, answers questions, sets timers, plays music and can control聽lights, fans, thermostats and more with compatible connected devices.

• In November 2015, 杏吧原创 University and Cisco Canada announced a $1.8-million grant over nine years to establish a .

Wireless Technology

• The new rule for the future is going to be, 鈥�Anything that can be connected, will be connected.鈥� ~Jacob Morgan

• Projections range from 聽(4 devices per human on Earth) to more than 聽– a lot of devices that will require connectivity!

• Most IoT devices and networks will rely on wireless technology. Some of the concerns with the IoT and wireless tech include, the need for low power consumption, flexibility to modify and grow these networks, and data security ().

• . Yu鈥檚 project will complement 杏吧原创鈥檚 research in 5G wireless communications technologies as they relate to the Internet of Things, autonomous and connected vehicles, sensor technologies and health care.

Sensors

• The Internet of Things is not just about smart devices. , including yogurt cups, mobile devices, automotive systems and even the cement in bridges. Data is captured and sent back into the cloud.

• , is looking at various kinds of sensors. This includes ambient聽environments where the environment itself is sensitive and responsive to the presence of people.

• )聽is looking for ways to use sensors to improve our lives. He lists IT management, health care and education as some examples of relevant applications.

Sensor Technology and Health Engineering Research at 杏吧原创

杏吧原创 is involved in several pilot projects that are helping with the effort to design smart homes that promote independent living for seniors. For example, pressure-sensitive pads placed under bed mattresses can alert seniors to a number of health concerns, from breathing difficulties to bladder infections.

Much of the applied research is rooted in sensor technology and digital signal processing. 鈥�

5 Things We Thought You Should Know

1. Help getting the most out of your Mobile Device?听听聽is available to assist faculty, staff聽and departments in managing university-funded cellphones and tablets.

2. Congratulations to the ITS Ransomware Warriors who won the 2016 Service Excellence Team award. Frank Zhang celebrated his 10 year service anniversary in March. And Nancy Vaillancourt celebrated 30 years in April.

3. Conference: The CANHEIT is in Kingston from June 13-16. New for this year – poster presentations! You still have time to .

4. Regular Password Changes:聽Passwords are a critical part of information and network security at 杏吧原创. All staff and faculty are required to .

5. 杏吧原创 Intranet: Since its launch in November 2016, over 65,000 pages have been viewed on the intranet. If you haven鈥檛 yet logged in, be sure to !

In this special edition of Spotlight on IT, we focus not on a trend, but on the great work done in our IT department.

We have just released our , a look back at our busy year supporting IT at 杏吧原创 University. This report highlights some of our achievements in key areas, including:

Engaging with researchers
Providing support, expertise and resources to research computing

Supporting teaching and learning
Helping in creative and constructive ways to integrate technology into the classroom and administrative processes

Providing opportunities for collaboration
Facilitating ways for members of the 杏吧原创 community to work together and share ideas

Protecting university assets
Working to ensure that our networks, applications and information are kept secure

Delivering excellent service
Providing the best possible service to our customers across campus

Resilience
Overcoming obstacles and challenges to achieve new heights

We are proud of what we have achieved in the past year and the many collaborations we have across campus. Please have a look at the full

Wishing you the best in 2017!

This month鈥檚 edition is all about the internet.

Internet

• The internet got its start and in 1969 the first ever message was sent from one computer to another over ARPANET.
• Tim Berners-Lee invented the Word Wide Web and the went live on August 6, 1991.
• 杏吧原创鈥檚 IT department launched its in 1996.
• In 1997, to access the internet at 杏吧原创 () you had to have a computer which met the following requirements: 386 PC or higher, MS-WINDOWS 3.1 or 3.11 or Windows 95, and a 9600 bps (or greater) modem. And Netscape was referred to as a 鈥榞raphical program鈥�.

Wireless

• In 1985, for use which released the three bands of the radio spectrum now used for nearly all wireless communication: 900 MHz, 2.4 GHz, and 5 GHz.
• The was a tad slow allowing a maximum data transmission rate of only 2 megabits per second (Mbps).
• The latest technology, transmits data across multiple signals and bandwidths allowing for maximum transmission rates of 1300 Mbps with extended ranges and nearly uninterrupted transmission.
• This year 杏吧原创鈥檚 IT department replaced access points in Academic Buildings with new ones that support 802.11ac.

Eduroam

• Operated by CANARIE in Canada, is a free wireless network that you can access at any participating institutions. 杏吧原创 students, staff, and faculty can access this network using their My杏吧原创One credentials.
• Over 90 institutions across Canada and over 17,000 global locations are taking advantage of eduroam.
• In the first quarter of 2016, over 90,000 Canadians used eduroam within Canada and abroad to login over 34 million times.
• At 杏吧原创, 7,337 people logged into the eduroam network this past September.

History of Wireless at 杏吧原创

In 2003 the Library offered a pilot wireless system to provide access to its resources from designated areas within MacOdrum Library and in 2004聽ITS tested聽two access points in Robertson Hall.

The growth of wireless and the demand for the service has since increased significantly. Today there are over 1600 access points across campus and last month over 18,000 concurrent users connected to the network.

To find out more about wireless at 杏吧原创, check out the infographic.

5 Things We Thought You Should Know

1. Cyber Security Awareness Month: As of this initiative, throughout October 杏吧原创鈥檚 IT department have been for email, computers and mobile devices, passwords, and websites.
2. Windows 10: This fall ITS will begin rolling out to all staff and faculty computers.
3. Knowledge Base: All of the documentation on the ITS website is currently being reviewed and updated. This is in preparation to moving over to a new knowledge base, similar to the current .
4. Intranet: 杏吧原创 staff and faculty are getting a new intranet. Once launched, the intranet will be the place to go for news, access to services, HR forms, and more.
5. Research Year in Review: 杏吧原创鈥檚 Research Office have published a summarizing some of the research accomplishments realized at 杏吧原创 over the past year.

To kick off our Cyber Security Awareness Month campaign, this edition is all about IT security.

Data Breaches

• In 2015 Symantec reported a whopping due to data breaches.
• At the , a hard drive containing personal information of approximately 900 students disappeared this month.
• in 2016 (so far), including two universities, LinkedIn, Drop Box, and 鈥榤ultiple major email providers鈥�, including the most recent .
• Protect yourself from data breaches by .

Passwords

• Nearly use duplicate passwords, many of which have not been changed in five years or more.
• 123456, linkedin, and password were the three identified in the LinkedIn breach.
• To avoid duplicating your passwords, use one of these .
• Keep your password safe and secure with these .

Email

• have been hit by ransomware. Two thirds were hit multiple times. Here鈥檚 what we can do to help of these attacks.
• According to , 93% of phishing emails are now ransomware.
• At 杏吧原创 we block over 85% of all inbound email as spam or viruses.
• How to recognize a .

October is Cyber Security Awareness Month

Next month we will be participating in Cyber Security Awareness Month.聽 聽Our month long campaign is designed to help you better understand the cyber threats you face online and the simple steps you can take to minimize those risks.

Simple things like:

• Knowing how to spot suspicious emails
• Creating secure passwords
• Keeping your computers and mobile devices safe
• Recognizing which websites can be risky

5 Things We Thought You Should Know

1. As to be expected, each September we see a spike in聽stats. 聽Service Desk calls are up, wireless traffic is up, and .
2. Tapping into the resources offered by the Research Computing Services team, researchers in Systems and Computer Engineering were .
3. Use an iPhone? Avoid data charges by .
4. In addition to the software available on the newly upgraded student lab computers or via 杏吧原创鈥檚 Virtual Computer Lab, student can obtain a number of to install on their computers.
5. Thrive Week, a week long series of events focused on building positive mental health for 杏吧原创 students, faculty and staff, kicks off October 3.