There was an issue today between 12:00 and 12:45 with authenticating on all IT Services Linux servers. This will have disrupted services including M: drive access, delayed processing of email, OpenVPN access, and the UNIX compute servers.
We believe the issue has now been resolved.
If you are still having issues, please contact the IT Services Helpdesk (email : it.helpdesk@essex.ac.uk or phone: 2345).
Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Moodle will be temporarily unavailable from 12:00 midday today (June 14th) while we apply a patch for a critical security vulnerability.
The following services will be affected:
The update will take less than a minute to complete, and normal service will resume afterwards.
There was a network problem this morning Wednesday 13th June that affected the use of DHCP around the Colchester campus. This is the process that allows a device to get an IP Address on our network.
The issue was caused by an interaction with some newly install AV equipment which was resolved at 11.15am.
If you are still experiencing an issue please restart your device before contacting the IT Services – Helpdesk on 01206872345
Update 3pm
Mission complete. Here’s what happened earlier…
At 12noon, staff and students began receiving a large amount of spam email. The spam email was a phishing scam which came from a genuine Essex IT account that had been compromised.
The compromised account was quickly blocked at 12:02 so it couldn’t send any more emails. Our email support team then conducted a search and destroy mission to delete all of the scam emails from everyone’s inboxes. By 12:20pm, our team had deleted around 99.9% of the scam emails.
Our reports show this particular scam email was sent 41,727 times to 22,740 users – some users receiving it more than once.
Phishing scams are real and everyone is a target – so please remain vigilant.
To help keep our network and users safe, please forward any suspicious emails to phishing@essex.ac.uk
Update 1pm
If you did click the link and fill out the form:
First alert
We are aware of a phishing/spam email being sent to Essex users with the subject “Unusual Login Attempt”.
This is a phishing email. DO NOT ACTION. Please delete it.
The account the email is being sent from has been blocked and our email support team are now searching all user mailboxes to remove the email.
More information to follow.
Information Update, 10:55: The cause of the problem has been identified and a solution implemented. All affected phones should reboot automatically and return to operation.
If a SIP phone is still affected after 11:30 today (11 June 2018) please inform telephones@essex.ac.uk, stating:
A technician will make arrangements to attend to the phone.
Information Update, 10:50: The problem is affecting all extensions that use the hotdesk / log in feature.
Please do not reboot or disconnect a phone as a precaution.
Original message, 10:15: A number of reports have been made this morning of SIP phones not working properly following a reboot or power outage (causing a reboot).
The system maintainer has been contacted and IT Services are looking for a solution.
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