Library & Information Technology Services Blog
News, Updates, and Information about LITS Resources and Services
LITS will be performing an urgent upgrade to our VPN this evening from 8pm -10pm. This upgrade will address a security vulnerability.
When you next log in to the VPN client, you may be prompted to update to a newer version of the client.
Thank you for your patience while we complete this critical maintenance. Please contact the Help Desk with any questions at help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.
As mentioned previously, yesterday’s routine system maintenance included changes to Office 365 logins. This was a necessary update that affected the appearance of the email and Duo login screens.
This morning, community members may find that they need to log in to all of their mobile and desktop Office 365 applications again (including Outlook and Teams). Once you log in, you will be able to use the apps as normal.
If you use Webmail and use the bookmark link in the browser on your College computer, you may need to update the bookmark before you can sign in. You can also navigate to Webmail by typing “webmail.brynmawr.edu” into your browser.
Please contact the Help Desk with any questions: help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.
Update: The outage window for email will be approximately 8pm – 9pm. Thank you for your patience.
Tonight, 1/11, LITS will be performing regular routine system maintenance from 6pm – midnight.
Microsoft Office 365 will be unavailable from 6pm – 7pm. All Office 365 services, including email, calendar, OneDrive, and Teams, will be affected.
During this outage, LITS will be working with a vendor to perform a necessary upgrade to Microsoft’s authentication service. After the upgrade, the login screen will look slightly different.
If you have any questions about this upgrade or the login screen, please contact the Help Desk at help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.
Apple and Google have released security updates for some new zero-day vulnerabilities that have been discovered. Though these updates will be automatically pushed by Apple and Google as devices are rebooted and browsers are restarted, it’s crucial for all community members to allow these updates to go through by restarting their browsers and rebooting their devices.
Please contact the Help Desk with any questions: help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.
Update, 4:20pm: The issue with logging in has been resolved. Please report any lingering issues to the Help Desk. Thank you for your patience while we got things back up and running.
Starting this afternoon, community members have reported issues with logging in to some Bryn Mawr services, including EZBorrow, eMarket, Interfolio, Domain of One’s Own, and Parchment. LITS is working to diagnose and resolve these issues as quickly as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
Please contact the Help Desk with any questions or concerns: help@brynmawr.edu, 610-526-7440.
Please be aware of a recent attempt to gather login, password, and other secure personal or College data from Bryn Mawr College community members.
Be on the lookout for messages titled “Re: Bryn Mawr College 2023 Student Announcement-financial aid/Grant.” This is a fraudulent email.
Do not open attachments, click on links, or respond in any way. Delete the message or report it as Phishing in Outlook. If you believe you’ve given your information to a phisher, immediately change your password and contact the Help Desk: help@brynmawr.edu, 610-526-7440.
Contact the Help Desk with questions: help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.
Starting this week, community members started reporting issues adding files to their H: drives. This is due to an unusual increase in the number of files that are currently being added to the drive.
We are working as quickly as we are able to provide additional storage to the drive and you may continue to have trouble saving files to your H: drive. In the interim, you can save any eligible files to OneDrive and any shared files to your S: drive. Please remove any data you no longer need from the H: drive.
Thank you for your patience while we work to resolve this storage issue. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Help Desk: help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.
Update, 11:15am: All telephone service has been restored and community members should be able to make calls to and from their campus extensions as normal. Thank you for your patience while we resolved this issue.
Please report any lingering issues or oddities to the Help Desk.
Update, 8:30am: It appears that all campus phone service, both to and from on and off-campus numbers is unavailable in Taylor Hall. We are continuing to work to resolve all issues as quickly as possible.
Early this morning, community members started experiencing issues with calls to and from off-campus telephone numbers. Calls from campus extensions to and from other campus extensions appears to be working normally. LITS is working with the vendor to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. We apologize for any inconvenience.
If you have any questions, please contact the Help Desk at help@brynmawr.edu.
Apple recently released a security update to iOS and OS systems. These updates address a zero-day vulnerability. It is crucial that all community members update all of their Apple devices, including iPads, iPhones, computers, and Apple Watches as soon as possible.
Beginning at 5pm today (Friday, 9/22), LITS will push this critical update to all College-owned Apple computers.
The update will automatically download and install. The computer may shut down or restart without warning; please remember to save your work early and often. If you update your computer prior to 5pm, it will not restart again after we push the updates out.
Thank you for your patience; we are working to address this security concern as quickly as possible. If you’re not sure you’ve gotten the update or if you want help doing the update on your own, don’t hesitate to contact the Help Desk: 610-526-7440 or help@brynmawr.edu.
This fall, the newest Apple operating system macOS Sonoma (version 14.0) will be released. Though we don’t know the exact release date, we’re busily testing a beta version of the macOS so that we can identify any quirks or peculiarities before it becomes publicly available.
Whenever Apple releases a new version of macOS, they also deprecate one of their older versions. This time, macOS Big Sur is the one that is scheduled to fall out of support. Once Apple stops supporting this version, they also stop releasing security updates for it and it becomes critical to update to a newer version as soon as possible.
You can easily use the steps on the Apple website to to find which version of Mac OS you’re using.
If you find that you’re running Big Sur (or something earlier!), you can find instructions from Apple support on performing an update on MacOS. Please make sure that all of your files are backed up before you start the update – though the process is usually straightforward, it’s always best to have a backup in case something goes wrong. This is particularly important if you are updating from a significantly older version of macOS (version 10.15 or older).
If you’d like assistance with checking the version of your OS or with updating or with backing up your files, please contact the Help Desk at 610-526-7440 or help@brynmawr.edu.
Update, 1:15pm: Wired and wireless internet access in New Dorm has been restored. Please report any lingering issues to the Help Desk.
Due to equipment issues, the wired and wireless networks in New Dorm will be unavailable starting at 11:30am today while we perform some necessary maintenance. We will work to keep the downtime as brief as possible and thank you for your patience while we work to get everything back up and running.
Please reach out to the Help Desk with any questions: help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.
Update, 9:50pm: Phone service in Old Library has been restored. Please report any lingering issues to the Help Desk.
Due to equipment issues, campus telephone service in Old Library is currently unavailable. LITS team members are working to restore service as quickly as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you in advance for your patience.
Please contact the Help Desk with questions: help@brynmawr.edu or 610-526-7440.