The Office of Innovative Technologies is implementing new security measures to protect our campus computers and information. We are working with campus IT professionals to let everyone know about these important updates. 

In the coming weeks, we’ll be checking which of our campus services, like websites and databases, are accessible online from anywhere on the Internet. We’re going to improve security by making sure only essential off-campus access is allowed. If you’re not on campus and need to use these services, you might have to connect through the UTK VPN. But don’t worry—if you’re using Canvas, Microsoft Office, or other online services while on campus, you shouldn’t notice any changes; everything will work just as it does now. 

In addition, all university-owned and grant-funded laptops, desktops, and servers must utilize Microsoft Defender. Microsoft Defender is available for Windows, Windows Server, Mac OS, or Linux. While many of our computers have already installed Defender, we will verify that they are onboarded with UT’s tenant for monitoring. Additional information, including installation instructions, will be available in the coming weeks. 

Thank you for your patience as we strive to protect our campus from cybersecurity threats.