Archives: Bulletins

Information Technology Services (ITS) is observing Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October with daily Instagram posts and events to promote online safety and security. 

The National Cybersecurity Alliance, which sponsors the annual observance with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), is encouraging people to make life hard for cybercriminals by building safe, consistent online habits daily. Those habits make it harder for cybercriminals to access personal data and compromise accounts. 

ITS encourages users to recognize that each person is responsible for protecting their personal data and George Mason’s IT systems and assets. To promote online safety and security, ITS has events planned to share information that helps people stay safe and take precautions online. 

Cybersecurity Awareness Month plans are: 

• Daily Instagram Tips: Each day during the month, ITS will provide a tip about online safety and security. 

• IT Security Trivia: The ITS Cybersecurity Operations team will host a trivia contest on Tuesday, October 6, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Johnson Center, Kiosk B. Prizes will be awarded for correctly answering cybersecurity-related questions. 

• Ask Me Anything Reddit Thread: From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, October 15, ITS will host a Reddit Thread where Cybersecurity Operations staff will answer cybersecurity questions. 

• This is How We Do IT — Cybersecurity at George Mason University: 2 p.m. Tuesday, October 20, Johnson Center, Room C. Cybersecurity Operations team members will participate in a panel discussion about IT Security at George Mason, what they do to keep George Mason safe, and what interests them in IT Security. The panel discussion will be hybrid, with an option to attend via MS Teams.   

ITS continually takes steps to raise awareness about the importance of cybersecurity. Among the ways ITS is helping community members stay safe are: 

• Providing alerts about phishing attempts. When ITS receives phishing email reports, it posts an alert on the ITS website and notifies recipients. Find phishing alerts at  

• Making it easier to report phishing. Employees can report phishing emails directly from an Outlook inbox. 

• Annual training. Each year, employees must complete IT Security Awareness Training that helps them recognize phishing emails, follow safe online practices, and avoid scams. 

Adopting safe and secure online behavior can help you protect your information and George Mason’s IT systems. And yes, it can make it harder for cybercriminals to scam you. 

SharePoint OTP Retirement: Changes to Guest Access

To create a more secure file sharing process, Microsoft is changing SharePoint sharing permissions and deprecating legacy one-time passcodes. As a result, MS Teams owners, SharePoint site owners, or OneDrive account holders may receive reports of external members having lost access to their shared data. To resolve this, the owner should re-share any file, folder, or site with the affected guest, after-which guests should regain access to existing shared resources as well. 

Legacy Outlook for Mac Retirement 

Starting October 2026, the legacy Outlook for Mac desktop client will cease working with Exchange Online. Users will need to switch to the New Outlook for Mac desktop client or Outlook on the Web (OWA) to check their email with the Mac OS.

Exchange Web Services (EWS) Retirement

Microsoft will begin retiring Exchange Web Services (EWS) in October 2026, with full retirement completed by April 2027. Applications that rely on EWS to connect to Exchange Online may experience service disruptions through the final retirement in April 2027. Mac Mail (Apple Mail for Mac) is one of the most widely used applications that relies on EWS. Microsoft is working with Apple to support the transition; however, functionality remains dependent on Apple providing the necessary updates. If you are a Mac Mail user and experience issues using the application, it is recommended to switch to the Outlook for Mac desktop client or Outlook on the Web (OWA).

The new school year brings an increase in phishing attempts by cybercriminals who know people are busy. 

As students, faculty, and staff are settling into the 2026 – 27 academic year, it’s an important time to remain on guard and to report any phishing attempts you may receive. Reporting phishing emails allows ITS to properly assess and notify others who may be targets.

Cybercriminals try to take advantage of the busyness of a new semester to catch members of the George Mason community off guard and lead them to respond to phishing emails. Many times, phishing emails are unsolicited, look official, and seem urgent, often tricking recipients into replying. If you received an email you believe is a phishing email:

• Do not respond, download any attachments, or click on any links. 
• Do not provide your password, personal information, or verification codes by phone or email. 
• Report the phishing to ITS. Phishing emails can be reported to ITS directly from your Outlook inbox or by calling ITS Support at 703-993-8870. 

In addition, be wary of requests to purchase gift cards. Cybercriminals often send emails with subject lines such as “Are You Available?” or “Urgent Request,” impersonating George Mason deans and executive officials. They request a cell phone number to text a message. They add urgency to requests to purchase gift cards and then text back the gift card number and PIN. When the information is sent to the cybercriminal, they withdraw the money from the card, and the sender is out the money. 

Even amid this exciting time of the year, use caution and examine emails to ensure they are legitimate. If you have a question about the legitimacy of an email, contact ITS Support 24/7 at 703-993-8870 or via live chat at  https://its.gmu.edu/chat/.

Effective August 20, 2026: The George Mason Zoom web homepage will be updated and will have a new look. Zoom is making this change to provide a unified, intuitive interface to help users access key features faster and manage settings more efficiently.

See New Zoom Web Experience – August 2026 for a snapshot of the biggest changes users will see or https://support.zoom.com/hc/en/article?id=zm_kb&sysparm_article=KB0084872 for full details of what is changing

Information Technology Services (ITS) is modernizing its enterprise systems this summer by transitioning our on‑campus data center infrastructure to Microsoft Azure, a cloud-based platform. This initiative replaces outdated hardware with a more reliable, scalable, and flexible environment that enhances system stability, strengthens disaster recovery capabilities, and supports long-term operational efficiency.

The effort involves transferring several servers that host various George Mason services and applications. To track the migrations, see the Azure Migrations Dashboard (accessible via the George Mason faculty and staff network). This is a live dashboard that will be updated in real-time to reflect the most current maintenance status. 

Large-scale technology transitions of this nature often reveal dependencies and workflow variations that are not fully apparent during testing. If a service or application goes down as a result of a migration, it will be listed under ITS Unplanned Outages. To receive immediate notifications regarding ITS outages, sign up for ITS Alerts.

We appreciate the patience and partnership of the university community as we complete this stabilization effort and ensure all business processes are functioning as expected. If you encounter an issue that may be related to this migration, please contact ITS Support anytime at 703-993-8870, or via live chat.