Over the past month, the Division of Information Technology (DoIT) has seen an increase in password compromises. Whether through phishing attempts or brute force attacks, there are plenty of ways of preventing your account from becoming compromised:

• Do not accept any Duo Pushes that you did not initiate.  Once an adversary is able to crack someone's password, they still need to get through Duo’s two step verification process. If you see a suspicious push sent to your device, deny it and report the attempt. For more information, please visit this FAQ article.

• Regularly change your password. Old passwords that are used for multiple services are susceptible to being compromised. DoIT recommends using a unique password for UMBC and changing your password periodically in case your password has been compromised in the past. Check out this article on how to change your password.

• Check your backup reset email and security questions for changes. Once an adversary has gotten access to an account, they will often try to establish persistent access to it by changing the reset email and security questions. To make sure your Information has not been changed, check to see if your recovery information is correct. For information on how to view and update your security questions, refer to the How do I setup my security questions to reset a forgotten password? FAQ.

If you find that your password is no longer working, it is possible your account was scrambled or locked.

We scramble an account if: 

• There are signs that the password to the account has been compromised. If your account is scrambled, all you need to do is reset your password.

We lock an account if: 

• There are signs that an adversary has gotten past Duo’s two-step authentication and has changed the recovery information to the account. In order to recover a locked account, you will need to contact security@umbc.edu to verify your identity.
  
  

The DoIT Technology Support Center is looking to hire additional student consultants to work during the fall semester and beyond. Please see our job description below and visit our job posting on Handshake to apply. (Search for DoIT Technology Support Center Student Consultant.) The application will be open until July 10, 2024.

TSC Student Consultant Job Description

Technology Support Center (TSC) student consultants are the first points of technical contact for the UMBC community and those who do well often go on to work in other areas of the Division of Information Technology (DoIT). Minimally, consultants are expected to provide initial triage and support for a wide range of information technologies including accounts, hardware, instructional technologies, networking, software, telecommunications, and basic web development.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to the following:

• Provide technical assistance to users by phone and online;
• Answer TSC phones in a professional and courteous manner;
• Create, update and resolve tickets in the Request Tracker (RT) ticketing system;
• Create, update, suggest and recommend relevant FAQ articles to users (www.umbc.edu/faq);
• Provide direct assistance to users on technical issues they cannot easily resolve on their own;
• Respond to all work-related communications in a timely manner;
• Escalate urgent problems to the Full-Time staff, as appropriate.

Required Skills and Experience

• Demonstrated ability to effectively communicate by phone or in writing.
• Demonstrated writing ability.
• Demonstrated ability to achieve successful outcomes in handling difficult situations and customers.
• Demonstrated analytical and troubleshooting skills.
• Ability & willingness to learn coupled with a clear understanding of one’s technical abilities, so as to triage and escalate an issue that leads to an effective solution for the user.