information
Security
Data and information security is an increasing concern for all faculty. The Information Security Office (ISO) provides resources to help you keep your data and information secure & quickly request assistance if you need help.
Research security consultation
The ISO provides personalized research security consultations to help you maintain data and information security in every aspect of your project. Additionally, ISO helps with reviewing security requirements from data and funding providers and signs attestation letters as required. During your consultation, the team will review your project, security requirements, lab space and/or equipment and go over security best practices and compliance guidelines required by your funding or data provider.
ssl certificates
UC Merced can generate SSL Certificates for your website, web application, program, or project. We use industry standard SHA 2048 up to 4096, and can help with Code Signing Certificates as well.
Vendor Risk Assessment
As part of the university's software ordering process, the ISO performs vendor risk assessments to identify threats and vulnerabilities to third-party suppliers that could adversely affect end users, operations, institutional information, and IT resources at UC Merced.
The goal of these assessments is to help faculty members understand security risks and their potential for business, research, or teaching impact.
Whether you’re looking to purchase new software for your research or teaching needs, or interested in better understanding the risks of currently used software, contact the ISO to schedule your assessment.
Vulnerability Management Program
The Vulnerability Management Program (VMP) is a program designed to bring your department, group, or team into compliance with the University of California IS-3 policy and industry information security standards.
When you request VMP, we’ll enroll your department in regular Vulnerability Management scanning, which allows us to scan and detect vulnerabilities in your computing environment and generate reports to help you remediate issues. If you need help with remediation, we can help with that too.
For more questions about the VMP program, or to enroll your team, please schedule a consultation via the link below.
For your System
Microsoft ATP Anti Virus
If FireEye HX can’t be used on your system, Microsoft ATP is our backup antivirus system.
Similar to FireEye, Microsoft ATP provides 24/7 protection against malware, spyware, and other kinds of malicious software. It also updates automatically, keeping you protected while you're busy with research and instruction.
CRASHPLAN Back Up Solution
Crashplan is a backup service provided by UC Merced that works seamlessly in the background to back up your workstation’s data.
Crashplan can be run on Windows, Mac, or Linux systems. The service helps backup files in your computer profile, or anywhere else you select. The backups are critical for mitigating risk of ransomware and hardware failures.
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)
Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) has become the defacto standard for most services at UC Merced, including e-mail and VPN Services. UC Merced offers MFA via the DUO platform.
MFA adds an extra layer of protection to the campus by requiring users to enter a code or approve a prompt on their device in addition to entering their password. MFA can also be setup for individual systems, such as servers, for additional protection when using services like Remote Desktop.
Bobcat Desktop
Bobcat Desktop, the imaging standard for UC Merced Windows-based devices, creates a default system image for your device which includes the following services, standards and software:
- Encryption enabled
- UCMNetID + Password Authentication
- Windows 11 – current version
- Office for Enterprise applications
- CrashPlan
- Box Drive and Box Tools
- Global Protect VPN
- FireEye HX Anti Virus
- Zoom + the Zoom Outlook plugin
- EMS plugin for Outlook
- Firefox - latest version
- Chrome - latest version
