Good afternoon, everyone!

Today I want to let you let you know about a popup that has been confirmed to be a non-threat and I need to let you know how to use Copilot so that data is secure. I also want to remind you again of the upcoming change to the sign-in experience that is scheduled for 05/27/2026.

Current Non-Threat

• Update Popup
  • If you see a popup labeled Microsoft Office Application Update, it is most likely legit.
  • I have confirmed with UTIA’s Endpoint Central administrator that it is a legit update if “UTIA” is shown.
  • Please look in the upper left corner of the popup to see if “UTIA” is there before clicking “Start Now”.
  • You can postpone this if you are in the middle of something using an Office application, such as Word, Excel, Outlook, etc., and you can’t easily quit.
  • Otherwise please let the update run.
  • You should close all Office applications before the install, but if you don’t the process will auto-close the apps.
  • These updates do not automatically upgrade older Office LTSC versions (e.g., Office 2021) to Microsoft 365, so if you are not using Microsoft 365, please let me know.

Important Information

• Using Microsoft Copilot Securely
  • You may already know that using the Microsoft Edge browser gives you the ability to use Microsoft Copilot.
  • However, if you wish to use Copilot for work, you must sign into Edge using your school account.
  • In the top right corner of the Edge browser window, you should see your profile picture used for Microsoft 365.
  • If you see this, hover over it and it will say “School” if you are logged into your UT Microsoft 365 account.
  • If you aren’t logged in you will see a “Sign in” button that you can click to sync your UT Microsoft 365 account.
  • If you are logged in with a personal account, please log out and sign in with your UT Microsoft 365 account.
  • Once you have confirmed that you are logged into your School account, click on the Copilot chat button.
  • A Chat window will open and you will see, “What can I help with?”
  • Above that you and below Chat in the upper left corner you should see a green shield with a check in it.
  • Hover over the shield and you should see, “Enterprise Data Protection applies to this chat,” which will keep your data within the Microsoft 365 tenant boundaries and encrypted at every level.
  • Once you see this, Copilot will not use your prompts, conversations, or UTIA data to train its foundational models.
  • Do not enter highly sensitive data, personal data, or non-public data even though there is Enterprise Data Protection in place.
  • Do not use personal Microsoft accounts for work tasks, as these accounts to not provide the same data protections.

• New Sign-In Experience (Reminder)
  • UTK’s Office of Innovative Technologies (OIT) will be updating how you sign in to many of UT’s applications that use UT’s Central Authentication Service (CAS) or Single Sign-On (SSO).
  • These applications include:
    • Adobe Creative Cloud
    • Canvas
    • DASH
    • LinkedIn Learning
    • MyUTK
    • Qualtrics
    • RingCentral
    • Software Distribution Site
    • VolCard
    • VolLink
    • VPN
    • Zoom
  • Currently you are using your NetID, but beginning May 27, 2026, you will use your UPN (user principal name), which is typically NetID@utk.edu for UTK/UTIA/IPS faculty and staff or NetID@vols.utk.edu for UTK students.
  • There may be times when “@utk.edu” will not be correct for some people who may have started at another campus so OIT created a way to Look up your UPN online if you are unsure.
  • You will continue to use your NetID password.
  • In addition to the login name change, the sign-in page is being updated, too.
  • For more details, please visit New Sign-In Experience Coming May 27.

• IT Security Presentations
  • If you would like for me to speak to your department or group about a specific IT Security topic,  please let me know.
  • I can schedule something to do in person or online.
  • You can send me an email and let me know the topic(s) and potential dates you have in mind, and we can get something scheduled.

Thank you all so very much for everything you do!

Sandy

Important Note: Thank you so much for sharing these e-newsletters with family, friends, clients, students, and anyone else who may benefit from the information. I would like to stress that you should keep your students in mind, as non-employee students will not get this information without someone sharing. If anyone else has an email group for students who are not employees of your department, please let me know what that address is and I can include it. I do this as a blind copy so student names and addresses will not show up!