IT News

New requirement on Technology Use During Foreign Travel

June 24, 2025

In response to increasing cybersecurity and research security threats, Berkeley Lab has updated its Requirements on Technology Use During Foreign Travel to better protect government systems, Lab data, and employees during international trips. These threats, which include the tracking or seizure of government-issued devices, mirror a wider trend seen across the national lab system and… Read more »

LabTech Everyday Event Coming to Bldg. 84

March 18, 2019

You asked, we listened! We’re bringing LabTech to you! April 1, 2019 @ 10AM in the Bldg. 84 Lobby Read more »
End of Support for Windows 7

March 4, 2019

Microsoft ceased mainstream updates for Windows 7 on January 13, 2015. Since then, Windows 7 continues to receive extended security updates; however Microsoft will cease all updates to Windows 7 on January 14, 2020. This is detailed in the Windows Lifecycle Fact Sheet (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/13853/windows-lifecycle-fact-sheet).IT User Support typically deploys workstations with a planned three-year service life.… Read more »
Laboratory Computing: How Molecular Foundry Scientists Model at the Nanoscale

February 5, 2019

In six of the seven facilities of the Molecular Foundry, scientists at benches or instruments, in lab coats or clean room suits, are hard at work creating and characterizing nanoscale materials. Sandwiched in between those laboratories, however, is a different kind of lab — one within a more traditional workspace of offices and cubicles. “Our… Read more »
To Clear or Not to Clear Browser Cache

January 9, 2019

What is a browser cache?A browser uses a local cache (pronounced “cash”) to store copies of recently accessed website information to quickly display data to a user at a later time. Having pages and images cached prevents the browser from having to re-download content, which can greatly increase the speed at which pages are loaded.Why should… Read more »
[Completed] CIFS (Grouper/Bass) Shared Directories Migration – December 21, 2018 5:30 PM

December 24, 2018

December 23, 2018: The work for this migration has completed. If you have any questions please contact us at help@lbl.gov.The CIFS server has reached end-of-life and to reduce the high costs associated with hardware replacement, operation, maintenance, and data backup, the IT Division is retiring the CIFS service at the end of the calendar year… Read more »
Google’s “Critical security alert” email

December 14, 2018

Created by Michael Narong Smitasin, last modified by Jay Krous on Dec 14, 2018 Overview You may receive an email like the below stating a “Sign-in attempt was blocked” for an email address in the @gtempaccount.com domain. This is not an attack or concerning; it’s just benign leftovers from a transition. Background The “username%lbl.gov@gtempaccount.com” was created… Read more »
Nov. 30, 2018 – Vulnerability to Zoom Meeting Client

December 11, 2018

Zoom has identified a vulnerability in its Zoom Meeting Client for Mac, Windows and Linux. This vulnerability is pretty bad, we believe it’s worth you taking the time to upgrade. The vulnerability could enable execution of unauthorized Zoom commands like spoofing chat messages, hijacking screen controls and kicking attendees off calls and locking them out… Read more »
IT Survey Begins

December 10, 2018

IT Division’s user survey kicks off this morning. A statistically valid sample of the laboratory population has been selected by the survey firm retained by IT Division (MOR Associates) and those users received email this morning asking for them to participate in the survey. IT wants to thank those of you selected in advance for… Read more »
Apple 13-inch MacBook Pro Solid-State Drive Recall

December 4, 2018

Apple recently announced that there are a limited number of 13-inch MacBook Pro (non-Touch Bar) laptops from 2017 and 2018 that have defective 128GB or 256GB solid-state drives. Apple suggests that to avoid data loss, these drives be replaced as soon as possible. They have a website to determine if your laptop is affected, see… Read more »
macOS Mojave Currently Blocked

December 1, 2018

Operations computers are managed by the IT Workstation Support Group under the Operations Desktop Support (ODS) program. At this time Operations Mac users cannot install the latest macOS, Mojave. We are currently blocking this macOS until we can confirm that all standard ODS software is compatible with the upgrade. Test results indicate that all software… Read more »
PC Gamers Use 75 Billion Kilowatt Hours

November 30, 2018

Why would this article be featured in IT Spotlight? The Green Gaming Project was a collaboration between Science and IT. Evan Mills and Norm Bourassa, senior scientists from the Building Technology and Urban Systems Division, worked together with a group of avid gamers from the IT Workstation Support Group to measure the energy consumption from… Read more »
Endless Reboot Loop Due to macOS High Sierra Update

November 29, 2018

ProblemThe IT User Support Group has had several calls from customers this morning regarding the endless reboot loop of their system after installing the latest High Sierra macOS update. Error message is,“The path /System/Installation/Packages/OSInstall.mpkg appears to be missing or damaged. Quit the installer to restart your computer and try again.”The system then enters an endless… Read more »