[IGPP Everyone] [EPSS Everyone] Computing Update: Three brief items

[SALYARDS, STEPHEN]

Greetings,
  I wanted to pass along three items that you should be aware of:


1.       Mac malware - we have had a recent spike in Macs getting the Malware.binary.dmg bug. If you have a Mac running OS X please remember that you have a lower risk, but not zero risk, and should be running and regularly scanning with an anti-virus program as well. Sophos for Macs is available from the software section of www.bol.ucla.edu<http://www.bol.ucla.edu> and there are some free version of other products as well.

2.       Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities - Intel announced yesterday they would be issuing a patch for their vulnerable chip architecture. Keep an eye out for the appropriate solution for your chip set. Reports that I have gotten from people who have patched their operating system software indicate only a small performance hit from the fix.

3.       MFA - we continue to learn about the MFA system on the UCLA Logon ID and one of the recent teaching moments was finding out that after 10 consecutive MFA failures the system will lock you out. While the usual MFA screen is probably not going to be a problem, be aware of how your VPN will work. For example, if you are at home and your default phone number is your office and the MFA system calls there when you attempt to log on, you could inadvertently get yourself locked out if you do it too many times in a row. And yes, a successful log in through the regular screen will reset the failure count.
Hope that is helpful. Thanks for all your help. And welcome back
Steve Salyards
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