[IGPP Everyone] [EPSS Everyone] EPSS IT Update for May 24, 2017

[SALYARDS, STEPHEN]

The latest installment of our IT musings

Computer Security
Since the last regular update I have sent out several emails with updates concerning cybersecurity and the WannaCry/WannaCrypt vulnerability in particular. As noted in those emails, this vulnerability was not dependent on a direct action by the user - such as visiting a problematic web site or opening an infected email - but spread across the net on its own. However, a computer was vulnerable due to inaction of a user in not updating the operating system to the most recent patched version.

Since then we have had a rash of rather unsophisticated email phishing attacks. I would remind you that no one at UCLA will ask you for your password or send you an email with a link to click on to change your password or update your network information. As always, if you have a question please check with the IT staff before you reply or click on a link.

It has been a while since I have mentioned it, so I would remind you that UCLA Policy 401<http://www.adminpolicies.ucla.edu/pdf/401.pdf> applies to any computers attached to a university network. It sets forth a series of computer security requirements that computers must meet, including  1) a current, patched operating system; 2) Anti-malware (i.e. enhanced anti-virus software) installed [If you need one you can download Sophos<https://www.it.ucla.edu/bol/software-downloads/sophos-antivirus> from free from BOL]; 3) A firewall on your computer; and 4) Strong passwords.

Open Source Software
As mentioned in the previous update I wanted to share with you some open source software solutions that provide reasonable to very good alternatives to commercial software that you may be interested in.

While many of you have probably heard the term open source, it is worth noting that it is a broad term that covers many forms of software which are not only available free of charge but also that the source code is available for free if you are interested in tinkering. Under open source there are a number of different licensing schemes. A couple of the better known ones are GPL (GNU General Public License) and the CCL (Creative Commons License). That area is too detailed and complex to really cover here, but there are a number of different licenses that have various requirements and restrictions.

Maybe the most widely used free and community supported software is the Firefox browser which grew out of the Mozilla project. Mozilla develops more products than just the browser, but it is the most widely used software from that project. Another software package that comes from that project that I know a number of you use is the Thunderbird email client.

And of course the most widely used open source product may be the various Linux distributions. Another widely used free software solution that has no real commercial competition that you may be using is the TEX and LaTEX packages. But in both these cases, while the core software is open source, there are commercial distributions that provide support or licensed commercial add-ons to enhance the free packages.

At this point many of the popular commercial packages have open source alternatives, and these alternatives usually support the same file formats as the commercial version. One of the best, oldest and most widely used is GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) which is a very reasonable alternative to Photoshop. While missing some of the bells and whistles, basic and intermediate functions like routine scaling, cropping, color adjustment and many filters are available. Similarly, LibreOffice is a great alternative to the Microsoft Office suite, especially for word processing and spreadsheet functions. There is no email client, the database program is not quite as smooth and the presentation program is not 100% compatible with Office, so it is not perfect. But it does include a nice drawing program that is not a part of the commercial version. And both these packages, like many open source alternatives, have the advantage that they run on Linux, which the commercial versions do not.

It is worth cautioning that not all open source software applications are as well developed and functional as these two. If there are multiple open source alternatives to a package it is sometimes worthwhile to download and install two or more of them and give them a quick try. The good news is that it does not cost you any money, just time, to try them out. Know what you need them to do for you and check out those specific features. You can usually find them, and often reviews as well, by doing a web search on the commercial software name followed by "open source." There are even respected open source solutions for Matlab, like GNU Octave and Scilab.

In summary, there are a lot of open source solutions available and while many won't do everything the commercial equivalent does, there is a good chance that it will do basic functions or the specific more advanced tasks you might need. It may be worth having a look.


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