Page 20 - OIT Progress Report: 2024 Edition

Developing Digital Literacy through Training and Microsoft Office Certifications (cont.)
the Staff Association. In addition to our general application offerings, several new classes were offered, including Business Process Improvement, Getting Creative with AI Using Adobe Express, LinkedIn Learning for Managers, Microsoft Teams and Teams for Project Management, and more.
We expect to announce additional sessions in the future to support our training needs further.
The Training & Communications team continues publishing technology-related information on our IT Connect blog. This year, we’ve introduced a monthly format for the academic year to capture more of our successes, increase the number of training quick tips, and communicate critical technology announcements
for the campus community.
“ Workshops for SMU students has enhanced
opportunities for students to learn valuable skills to enhance their academic experience at SMU
and prepare them for their careers once they graduate.”
BECCA UMOBONG
DIRECTOR, ACADEMIC SKILL DEVELOPMENT, ALTSHULER LEARNING ENHANCEMENT CENTER
18 OIT PROGRESS REPORT 2024
IMPROVING
For many years, a focus of our security efforts centered around securing our servers and services, our network,
and providing training to the campus on good security habits. Centralized controls like these provide great visibility, are cost-effective, and benefit the entire campus. We’ve implemented various tools to enhance the security of our border and data center, two factor authentication to protect our user accounts and services, and enhanced permissions and access review. We continued to advance down this path this year, implementing
a new Abnormal email security detection product which leverages AI to detect advanced email attacks. We also implemented Duo Verified Push, an improvement to our authentication security, which protects our accounts from additional forms of attack.
However, as the workplace becomes increasingly mobile, and endpoint threats like ransomware continue to increase, our strategy has adapted
to focus on securing our endpoint computing environment. Fortunately, improvements in security technology and cost efficiency also made this the right approach at the right time. We turned our attention more closely to the desktops and laptops used across campus to identify ways to increase their protection.