Tech Tip of the Week

Want to make sure your home network speed is good enough for your Zoom calls?  Here’s how:

• Navigate to https://www.speedtest.net and press the Go option;

• Ignore the Ping speed;

• Check out both your Upload and Download speeds;

  • Your Upload speed will probably be lower than your Download speed. This is expected behavior. If either of them is less than 3mbps, we recommend that you turn off your video feed and use audio only. Less than 0.2 mbps? Probably best to use your phone (preferably a landline). 

Zoom Meeting Security 

Click here to review Duke University OIT guidelines for making sure your Zoom meetings are secure and private.

If you have any questions about any of these settings, let us know. And as a reminder, if you’re new to Zoom (and Zoom security) and you’d like to try out any of the settings, just let us know, and we’ll schedule a short practice session with you. You can reach use via email at SONIT-Support@duke.edu or phone at 919-684-9200.

LastPass

LastPass is an easy-to-use tool – approved by the Duke Health Information Security Office - that stores all of your UserIDs and passwords into a “vault”, available from each of your devices. You can use this tool on every website that requires you to login.  Here are some of the features:

• Generate secure, random passwords – having a unique, strong and easily remembered password for every site is hard. LastPass will generate strong passwords for you, then type them in for you so you won’t have to remember them. 

• Safe automatic form-fill – LastPass allows you to create multiple profiles that will automatically fill in a form for you when you are purchasing or registering online.  It’s a much safer alternative to the browser-based form-fill add-ins.

• Digital Wallet – Keep all of your sensitive information in a secure and accessible place.  For example, your WiFi network login, a PIN code, a copy of your insurance card, etc.

• Share a password – Do you co-pay bills, manage a joint checking account or some other function that requires a shared password? Use LastPass to securely share a section of your password vault with a spouse or parent.

LastPass is available from the Duke University Office of Information Technology (OIT) website. Follow these instructions to download and begin using it.

• Click here to go to the OIT Software Licensing website

• Select the Search For Software option

• Login with your NetID and password

• In the Search terms to the left, type LastPass in the box and press the magnifying glass

• Select the icon, add it to your cart, then checkout

OIT provides a nice set of videos through LinkedIn Learning to introduce LastPass to you. These videos are short, concise and well-produced. Select the one(s) that interest you most, starting with Section 1 – Getting Started with LastPass. The time investment you make in watching these short videos will pay off by the enhanced security it provides, plus it will eliminate the frustration surrounding trying to remember all of those passwords.

Click here to go to the LastPass OIT website, and click here to visit their corporate website. Duke University offers information on a wide variety of topics related to IT Security. Click here to learn more about how to protect yourself online.

Contact

If you have any technical questions or problems, please contact your IT Service Desk at 919-684-9200, or email to SONIT-Support@duke.edu. Check out IT's blog for this and other topics.