Good afternoon, everyone.

Today I want to inform you of a legitimate email sent to members of the UT College of Veterinary Medicine faculty and staff. I also want to remind you of a seemingly never-ending phishing scam involving supposed remote job opportunities. I am also sharing important information about one of our new security initiatives.

Current Non-Threat

• Classifieds App (email)
  • The sender is Rees, Larissa via Microsoft Power Apps <powerapps-noreply[@]microsoft.com>.
  • The subject is Rees, Larissa has shared the Classifieds app with you.
  • The email went out to members of the College of Veterinary Medicine’s faculty and staff.
  • This email is legitimate.
  • Larissa, a member of UTIA’s Information Technology Services, has been working on a new project with Classifieds using Microsoft Power Apps and she was sharing the app.
  • The link for Classifieds is Classifieds (sharepoint.com), but keep in mind that only those with a “need to know” will have access.
  • This is meant to be used only by those specific people who received the email, so if you did not receive the email and are not with CVM, you will not be granted access.
  • If you got this email, please check out Classifieds and use it for your future needs!

Current Threat

• Work From Home Opportunities (phishing email)
  • The sender varies but the recent ones appear to be UTK students with @vols.utk.edu email addresses.
  • The subject also varies but can be WORK AT YOUR CONVENIENCE, or Work at your convenience and earn $450 weekly, or something similar.
  • The current messages tell you that this is a flexible part-time job and that all tasks are work from hone/on campus job.
  • The current messages claim to be from the Office of Student Financial Aid (that is not the actual name of this office!).
  • Some of the messages have a UT logo, but it is slightly “off”.
  • There are several grammatical errors, as well.
  • There is a link to click so you can “confirm,” but please do not click!
  • This is not at all legitimate.
  • Please note that UT will not use student email addresses to send such emails.
  • The emails appear have been sent using compromised accounts.
  • If you have received an email like this, please report it using Reporting Phishing Attempts & Other Email Scams.
  • Please make sure that you share this information with all of your students, not just student employees!

Important Information

• Microsoft Intune
  • UTK OIT announced in this week’s IT Weekly that Windows users need to enroll in Intune now.
  • Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based endpoint management solution, allowing organizations to securely manage their devices and applications.
  • This is one of the many new IT security initiatives I have been working with the other Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) across the UT System to implement.
  • At this time, all UT-owned Windows devices are now required to be enrolled with Microsoft Intune.
  • UTK OIT has stated that all Windows devices be enrolled as soon as possible.
  • One reason this is incredibly important is so the Microsoft Defender console can actively track suspicious activity, unwanted logins, and threats, so that alerts may be sent to the appropriate CISOs for investigating and remediating.
  • If you have a fairly new device, it has likely been enrolled.
  • Other devices, particularly those being used for working remotely, are likely NOT enrolled.
  • If you are with College of Veterinary Medicine, please contact CVM Computer Support before starting the following process as they will provide the support you need.
  • To find out if your device has joined with Intune, please sign in to the Microsoft 365 Intune Portal, using your UT email and password (and be sure to use “@utk.edu” for this one!).
    • Choose “Devices” to view the list of devices in your name that are enrolled.
    • If any of your UT-owned devices are not listed, please complete the enrollment process.
    • The instructions for enrolling devices can be found at UT Device Security with Intune: Windows Users Need to Enroll Now.
    • This process must be done separately for each device that being enrolled.
    • When going through the process on a UT-owned device being used remotely, you must be logged in to the UT VPN (Pulse Secure).
  • I will say that the process is quite easy, but you may call the UTK OIT HelpDesk at (865) 974-9900, if you have any questions or problems.

Thank you all for everything you do every day to protect the Institute and its data. Please remember you may contact me at any time if you have any questions or concerns. I am always here to help you!

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 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!