Passwords — you can’t escape them. Logging into Canvas? Enter your password. Checking your email? Password. Online banking? Amazon purchase? Password, password. Passwords are such an integral part of online life, it’s easy to forget how important they are for protecting your digital footprint. According to the 2022 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, over 80% of breaches of online sites and apps were caused by stolen or weak credentials. A little password hygiene can go a long way — because getting hacked stinks.

Cybersecurity has become one of the biggest IT topics over the last two years, from securing digital learning tools during the pandemic, to widespread phishing scams that continue to target students, faculty, and staff. The seemingly endless cybersecurity news cycle and technical jargon that gets tossed around can make cybersecurity seem overwhelming and like something that should be left to the pros, but each of us have a huge role to play in cybersecurity threat prevention, detection, and remediation.

Digital Inclusion Week (October 3–7) is a week of education, awareness, and activism dedicated to addressing disparities in digital access. Digital inequity disproportionately impacts the lives and careers of people of color, older people, those with disabilities, the poor, and women.  Digital inclusion goals include affordable internet, access to appropriate devices, and digital skills training. Pitt IT is a proud partner in engaging the University and community in making strides toward digital equity.

OneDrive is Microsoft’s cloud service that lets you store and protect your files, share and simultaneously edit documents, get to your files from anywhere on all your devices, and even recover previous versions or deleted files. (If you’re not familiar with these features, check out this article.) But OneDrive pros utilize other exceptionally handy features that really take you to the next level.

Research takes place in labs. In libraries. At historical sites. In polls, statistical repositories, and news reels. Research methods can be as varied as the fields in which they occur, but one thing they have in common is an increasing reliance on technology.

Pitt IT provides tech that helps researchers in all disciplines to collect, store, and process the data; document their methods, results, and conclusions; and share and collaborate with colleagues and partners. Here are the top Pitt IT tools researchers can start using today.

After enjoying a long Labor Day weekend, many of us are already looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. But for students, faculty, and staff of other faiths, the next major holiday may not be either one of those.

Technology gets smarter and more intuitive with every passing year. If you have no memory of slogging your way through a word processing program that looked like this (right), then consider yourself lucky.

But even as technology has gotten more advanced, you still occasionally run into a snag and have no idea how to resolve it. Fortunately, Pitt IT has a wealth of resources to help when you run into a problem. Here’s our top six.

Welcome (back) to campus, Panthers! When you were considering Pitt, many of you took a guided tour of the campus. During Welcome Week, you’ll be exploring your new home for the next four years, figuring out where to eat, where your classes are, and where the fun stuff takes place.

Technology is a huge part of your life and your education. Knowing where to find the technology resources you’ll need should be an important step in your orientation. Here’s a recommended tour of your on-campus technology resources.

Attending Pitt gives you many advantages: a world-class education, exceptional research opportunities, a supportive environment, and a global network of Panther alumni. Pitt IT is here to support that mission with some great benefits of their own. Get all these awesome IT perks to enhance your Pitt experience.

Many universities use the term “arrival survival” to describe the return to campus. Though with a little planning, there’s no need for survival techniques to make your move-in seamless. Here are a few key IT tasks to complete before or shortly after you arrive to make sure you get connected and stay in the know.