Software Patches and OS Updates
If your computer seems to be working fine, you may wonder why you should apply a patch. By not applying patches, you might be leaving the door open for malware to come in.
Students
Find what IT resources, support and help are available to MIT students
Software Distribution
IS&T offers a wide range of free software applications for the MIT community. Browse the software grid to search for products by the categories that interest you.
Passwords
Passwords protect and limit access to your personal data and to IT resources at MIT.
If your password is over a year old, you will be required to change it when you renew your MIT certificate(s). Note: IS&T will never ask you to send or reset your password via email.
Backup (Computer Backup)
Data is the most important aspect of your computer. Computer hardware can fail, data can be corrupted, computers can be lost, stolen, or destroyed. You may be able to reinstall operating systems and applications, but your original data could be lost forever. Data backup software can help you protect and restore your data when something goes wrong. IS&T provides two service offerings at no charge to students, faculty, and staff for data backup:
- Desktops and laptops: CrashPlan PROe
- Enterprise servers: Tivoli Storage Manager (TSM)
Lockers
An Athena locker is a directory (aka: folder) on the Athena filesystem. IS&T creates lockers for official MIT courses, UROP projects, student living groups, ASA recognized student activities and MIT organizations (including administrative offices, academic departments, programs, and lab or research groups).
Printers and Printing
MIT provides centrally-managed printers as well as network connectivity for department or personally owned printers. Both color and black-and-white printers are now available in all MIT dorms.
Stopit
Stopit is a confidential on-the-record venue for reporting harassment and other inappropriate behavior that occurs electronically at MIT.
Data Discovery
Data discovery is the activity of finding where sensitive data resides so that it can be adequately protected or securely removed. IS&T distributes Spirion (formerly Identity Finder), a software tool that can easily retrieve electronic data stored on computers and servers.
LDAP Directory
MIT's LDAP Directory Service (ldap.mit.edu) is MIT's implementation of the standard LDAP protocol for providing directory services. It provides access to user and group membership information sourced from Moira and updated in real time, allowing application developers or administrators looking to integrate their applications with MIT's enterprise data.
As an example, wikis.mit.edu (based on Atlassian Confluence) makes use of the LDAP service for user lookups.
WAUS: MIT Windows Automatic Update Service
The MIT Windows Automatic Update Service (WAUS) enables the MIT community to utilize Microsoft's Automatic Update feature with a more conservative selection of patches - focused on critical security updates - than those available directly from Microsoft.
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