MU Wireless will be replaced with MU Secure to be used by students, faculty and staff at the University beginning on March 10.
According to Dr. Edward Christensen, Vice President for Information Management at the University, “In order to comply with Payment Card Industry mandates, the Monmouth University wireless network must be encrypted. In addition, information security best practices also strongly recommend that wireless networks be encrypted,” Christensen said.
This means that MU Secure will be simply, more secure. “MU Secure is an encrypted enterprise grade wireless network. As an wireless devices could intercept the traffic to and from a computer on MU Wireless,” Christensen said. So students and faculty will be able to surf safely on the internet.
To elaborate more on the safety of the new network, Christensen said, “A new Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA2 Enterprise) secured wireless network, MU-Secure, has been deployed across campus and is available in all locations that have access to MU Wireless. MU Secure utilizes the Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA2) security method, which provides stronger data protection and network access control than MU Wireless which utilizes the less secure Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP).” Christensen noted that the new network will also be easier and more practical for users using the wireless network. “With the less secure ‘MU Wireless,’ users had to re-authenticate periodically; with the more secure ‘MU Secure,’ users have to reauthenticate their device only when they change their password,” Christensen added.
Some students may have heard of the new change over to MU Secure while others may still be in the dark about this impending modification. Christensen said over the past year Information Management has spoken with SGA regarding the change and over the past several weeks posters and flyers have circulated to make students and faculty aware of the coming changes. Some students checking and skimming emails that arrive daily may have missed the notices about the switch in their inbox.
“The first announcement of the availability of MU Secure was sent via email to the entire campus on November 14, 2011. A second notice was sent January 31, 2012 to the entire MU community announcing that MU Wireless would be shut down March 10, 2012. The MU Wireless login page has also advertised MU Secure as of November 14, 2012 and more recently changes have been made to the login page to denote the countdown to the switchover,” Chris- This year, 60 professionals and speakers came to the event along with representatives from businesses including ABC Radio, tensen said.
The change from MU Wireless to MU Secure has been in the works for quite some time, “Information Management has been testing MU-Secure since June 2011, and was officially announced to students and employees in November 2011,” Christensen said.
Mary Ann Nagy, Vice President for Student and Community Services said, “There has been a considerable effort to improve our use of technology on campus and this is just one piece to that puzzle. I know that the IT staff has been communicating this change for some time now to all on campus including students. As with any issue involving technology, students having difficulty switching over to MU-Secure should contact the help desk on campus.”
In an effort to make the switch as seamless as possible, throughout the month of February, Information Management had made available guides for students as well as holding “Get Secure @ MU” events to help students and faculty acclimate to the new network.
Furthermore, if students encounter any difficulties with MU -Secure, help is readily available. Christensen said, “As with any technology issue, Students can visit the Campus Technology website or contact the Student Information Management Help Desk for additional information or to report any problems. It is recommended that they call extension 3490 first to verify that someone is there.”
Information Management is always striving to make sure that the University has the best service available on the wireless network. Come March 10, students should be sure to erase any reference to MU Wireless from their devices once MU Secure has been established and functioning. Further help can also be found on the University website under Campus Technology and students may contact Information Management if problems still arise.
