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News & Alerts

PantherBytes Blog
As Thanksgiving rolls around, it's natural to start reflecting on all the things we’re grateful for, including the tech that helps us get through life a little easier. Whether it’s powering through late-night study sessions, connecting with family and friends, or just saving time, some standout tools make being a student, faculty, or staff member at Pitt that much better.
Digital Risk Bulletin
It was revealed that 183,754,481 records belonging to Pure Incubation Ventures have been put up for sale on a hacking forum.
PantherBytes Blog
November is National Career Development Month, making it the perfect time to focus on building your professional skills and connections. As you reflect on your career, it’s important to adopt a holistic perspective.
Digital Risk Bulletin
On November 7, Federal Student Aid published guidance on access and use of PII from the FAFSA by universities and others.
PantherBytes Blog
This election season has been intense, sparking heightened conversations on campus and across social media platforms. While staying informed is important, protecting your mental health and well-being is equally essential.
In the News
At its monthly meeting on Oct. 28, the Senate Computing and Information Technology committee was briefed on a transition from one business intelligence report-writing tool to another as well as a pilot artificial-intelligence service being tailored for the Pitt community.
Success Stories
At the University of Pittsburgh and in technology, innovation is a way of life. Recently, Pitt IT partnered with the Office of Budget Operations (OBO) within the Controller’s Office to transform their annual Target Letter process, which establishes budget targets for each University unit.
Service Announcements
Effective Saturday, Nov. 30, devices running macOS 12 (Monterey) will no longer be able to access University resources through PittNet VPN (Pulse Secure) or Global Protect VPN.
Digital Risk Bulletin
The US Justice Department hits Penn State University with a $1.25 million fine to settle allegations that it failed to adequately secure data tied to government contracts.
Digital Risk Bulletin
An AI hallucination is when an AI tool provides an incorrect answer. One of the biggest issues with AI hallucinations in cybersecurity is that the error can cause an organization to overlook a potential threat.
PantherBytes Blog
Phishing attacks can come in various forms—emails, texts, or social media messages. Click, respond, or otherwise give your personal information to hacker, and your system, data, and money are in big trouble. A successful phish can even give a bad actor access to Pitt systems and data, potentially risking the whole University and its students, faculty, staff, alumni, and partners! But you can stop phishing attempts before they can do you any harm. Learn to spot the signs of a phishing attack and know what to do if you get one.
PantherBytes Blog
Even with strong, unique passwords for every account — and let’s face it, many people just rotate through a handful of passwords while using standard security questions — hackers manage to break into people’s accounts. That's where Multifactor Authentication (MFA) steps in as your digital sidekick, adding an extra layer of security to protect your accounts.
In the News
Pitt Chancellor Joan Gabel and Carnegie Mellon University President Farnam Jahanian celebrated Pittsburgh’s role as an AI Tech Community by signing a ceremonial memorandum of understanding with NVIDIA at AI Horizons Pittsburgh on Oct. 14. The summit included keynote remarks from Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, discussing Pittsburgh’s global role in human-first AI innovation.
Service Announcements
PeopleSoft and PeopleSoft/HighPoint Campus Experience (CX) will be unavailable during scheduled maintenance to the Student Information System taking place overnight from Saturday, Oct. 19, at 11 p.m. until Sunday, Oct. 20, at 7 a.m. The maintenance will be performed by the vendor, Sierra-Cedar.
Digital Risk Bulletin
The final program rule for the CMMC Program was released for public inspection on federalregister.gov and is anticipated to be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
Digital Risk Bulletin
The cybersecurity industry is now seeing significant security gaps because of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).
Service Announcements
TeamDynamix, which includes Pitt Information Technology’s Services Portal and Knowledge Base at services.pitt.edu, as well as the TDAdmin, TDNext and TDClient services will unavailable from midnight to 4 a.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 19, while the vendor (TeamDynamix) performs a system upgrade.
Digital Risk Bulletin
The Internet Archive, known for its expansive collection of digital content and historical web snapshots, suffered a significant data breach impacting a whopping 31 million users.
Digital Risk Bulletin
Providing a summary of recent OCR activity, Pitt's HIPAA compliance, and updates to the FERPA Policy.
PantherBytes Blog
One of the easiest ways to boost your cybersecurity is to keep your software and apps updated. Every day, developers are looking for clues that hackers are trying to break into their systems. They are searching for holes where cybercriminals could sneak in, even if they’ve never been breached before. They then release updates to fix these issues and keep the bad actors out. All you have to do is install the latest updates for your devices, software, and apps — including web browsers — to get the latest protections.
In the News
NVIDIA’s Joint Center with the University of Pittsburgh for AI and Intelligent Systems will focus on computational opportunities across the health sciences, including applications of AI in clinical medicine and biomanufacturing.
Security Alerts
Microsoft Corporation has announced security updates for October that affect a broad range of Microsoft products. Microsoft Corporation typically announces security updates on the second Tuesday of each month. Pitt Information Technology recommends that users immediately identify and install the security updates necessary to remediate these vulnerabilities by using Microsoft's Windows Update feature on their computers as soon as possible within the following guidelines:
Digital Risk Bulletin
It was recently revealed that it's possible to combine Meta smart glasses with face image search technology to reveal anyone's personal details just by looking at them.
PantherBytes Blog
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month, which is a great time to level up your security game! While we’re all familiar with the classic advice to "create unique and strong passwords," keeping track of all those passwords is a whole other story. Who can remember a different 20-character string of letters, numbers, and symbols for every account? Enter the password manager: your new security cheat code.
In the News
John Duska, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the University of Pittsburgh, has been recognized as a Top 100 Accelerated CISO Award Winner, a prestigious honor that highlights emerging security leaders with less than five years in the role. The merit-based program celebrates those who have demonstrated exceptional skill, innovation, and a commitment to advancing the cybersecurity industry.