News Archives

Enhancing Cybersecurity through Automation

May 13, 2026

Enhancing Cybersecurity through Automation

In today’s digital landscape, protecting institutional systems from vulnerabilities is essential to maintaining a secure and reliable environment for teaching, learning, and research. To support this goal, the UBC Cybersecurity and Vulnerability Management Solution team has implemented a centralized Vulnerability Management Solution (VMS) that streamlines the identification and management of security issues across the university’s network.

The VMS consolidates information from multiple sources into a single platform, enabling IT teams to monitor and address potential risks efficiently. A key focus is the proactive identification of vulnerabilities in servers that are accessible from the public internet, as these systems can be more susceptible to attacks if not properly secured.

As part of the VMS, the Cybersecurity team is using automation to:

  • Maintain Accurate Inventories: Publicly accessible servers are identified and cataloged through a combination of automated and manual processes.
  • Automate Vulnerability Scans: Once servers are identified, automated workflows schedule and update vulnerability scans to check for weaknesses such as outdated software or misconfigured settings.
  • Centralize Results: Scan results are collected and organized within the VMS, providing each unit with a clear view of its security posture.

While this approach significantly improves efficiency and consistency, UBC continues to explore enhancements. These efforts reflect a commitment to sustainable, cost-effective security practices that leverage automation and standardization.

Taking these steps ensures UBC’s digital infrastructure remains resilient, enabling the university community to focus on what matters most.

Learn more about the Vulnerability Management Solution (VMS)

UBC IT
technology lines

Posted in

Game On: UBC IT at Faculty & Staff Sports Day

May 8, 2026

Game On: UBC IT at Faculty & Staff Sports Day

On May 1st 2026, UBC IT participated as part of 108 teams in the 16th annual UBC Faculty & Staff Sports Day. This annual event included activities scattered across the UBC Aquatic Centre, Student Recreation Centre (SRC), War Memorial Gym, MacInnes Family Field, and Rec North. UBC IT staff favorites included Pool Noodle Javelin, Mini Pickleball, and Squirt Bottle Relay, amongst others.  

Over 610 faculty and staff from across campus participated, with many teams dressing up in costumes. Events like this highlight the spirit and connection that make our community thrive. We are proud of UBC IT staff for contributing to a culture of wellbeing, engagement, and community across campus.   

To stay active this summer, UBC Recreation is hosting the Faculty and Staff Summer Sports Series. This program offers free sports tournaments and drop-in programming for those working on UBC Vancouver’s Point Grey campus.  

team photo with UBC thunderbird

 

4 people standing in gym

staff team photo on MacInnes field

UBC IT
team photo at staff sports day holding signs

Posted in

UBC IT at BCNET CONNECT 2026

April 30, 2026

UBC IT at BCNET CONNECT 2026

 

How can Information Technology (IT) professionals work better together to support the needs of research, teaching, and learning across British Columbia? 

 

Last week at BCNET CONNECT 2026, the three-day higher education and research tech conference, many of our UBC IT colleagues gathered around this central question. Participating as both attendees and presenters, UBC IT staff had the unique opportunity to connect with industry-leading technology providers and higher education institutions across BC. 

 

 

BCNET CONNECT 2026 Overview: 

 

4 people smiling
table of staff at lunch
panel of 5 speakers talking

UBC IT Session Highlights: 

Beyond the “Cool Factor”: Converting Emerging Tech Experiments into Sustainable Services
Speakers: Saeed Dyanatkar & Aarti Paul 

Transformative ideas in higher education often stall between pilot and production. This session shared UBC IT’s practical framework for guiding emerging technologies from proof of concept into sustainable, enterprise-ready solutions. The sessions traced the development lifecycle of initiatives that survived the “valley of death” between experimental pilots and support services across three impact areas: high-stakes simulation, administrative efficiency, and pedagogical innovation. Real-world projects examined included: 

The session concluded with providing attendees with a blueprint for how teams can overcome technical ambiguity, manage scope, and secure institutional buy-in. 

Learn more about the Digital Experience Lab (DXL)
For more information about this presentation or the DXL's services, please contact the DXL team

AI in Action: Delivering Real Value with Workday at UBC 
Speakers: Laleh Mosadegh & Shelly Morrison 

This session focused on how UBC is using embedded AI and machine learning capabilities within Workday, to improve finance operations and institutional efficiency. The presentation outlined UBC’s AI journey, including how Workday’s built‑in AI functionality was implemented, how initiatives were prioritized, and how additional tools were integrated to extend capabilities across finance and accounts payable. Attendees heard firsthand from Finance and Accounts Payable leader, Shelly Morrison, about training AI-enabled systems, realizing measurable benefits, and adapting business processes to take advantage of AI-driven insights. The session concluded with a forward-looking view from Workday on the roadmap for embedded AI, automation, and agent-based capabilities, leaving participants with practical insights into adopting AI responsibly and effectively within a large Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) environment.

View presentation (requires CWL to access) 

Building Shared Accountability for Cyber Risk in Highly Distributed Environments 
Speakers: Mawuena Glymin, Grainne McElroy, Gurm Dhugga & Waii Chow 

Highly distributed environments that span multiple campuses, academic programs, research units, health-authority partnerships, and dozens of independently managed IT teams, often struggle to translate cybersecurity policy into consistent, day-to-day practice. This session follows a series of “wake-up calls” spanning 2020 to 2025 within UBC’s Faculty of Medicine, that transformed the faculty’s approach to cyber risk. The session explores how they addressed the challenges of a distributed IT landscape, governance ambiguity, resource constraints, and risk management silos by building coordinated cybersecurity governance through leadership alignment, structured engagement and enablement models, and continuous risk assessment. Attendees were guided through a replicable IT and cybersecurity operating-model journey, including wins, challenges, and practical lessons to apply to their own environments.  

View presentation (requires CWL to access) 

AI Privacy & Information Security 
Speakers: Taylor Bohn, Larry Carson, Malileh Oliver 

As artificial intelligence adoption accelerates across universities, it is reshaping how privacy and information security risks show up in day‑to‑day work. But is it creating entirely new problems, or just amplifying long‑standing privacy, security, and governance challenges? In this session Larry Carson, Maliheh Oliver and Taylor Bohn, unpacked how AI is changing the privacy and cybersecurity risk landscape at UBC. Speakers discussed how AI impacts core privacy obligations around collection, use, and disclosure of personal information. Speakers discussed how AI is accelerating security threats such as phishing and automated attacks, and where AI can also strengthen defensive capabilities, for example in filtering, anomaly detection, and training. The talk also discussed three ways to manage AI in practice: setting boundaries, assigning accountability, and enabling oversight. The session concluded discussing AI’s dual nature, information exposure, and the importance of ethics. 

View presentation (requires CWL to access) 

Congratulations to all presenters who represented UBC IT! 

Cyber Scenarios Challenge - Capture the Flag Winner 

This year's BCNET CONNECT Cyber Scenarios Challenge - Capture the Flag brought together post-secondary institutions from across Canada in a 60-hour, four-scenario cybersecurity challenge. Participants were tasked with challenges that tested real-world incident response skills on a live national leaderboard. The 2026 winner was UBC IT staff member Simon Hua, a system analyst for UBC IT @ Faculty of Dentistry who began his work at UBC in Desktop Services Architecture and Development and has also worked with the CISO and IAM teams. Reflecting on the win, Hua shared, “I am so happy to do that for UBC”.  

Congratulations Simon Hua! 

We extend another thank you to everyone who contributed to BCNET CONNECT 2026. Your efforts and meaningful contributions reflect the strength of our community and UBC IT’s ongoing commitment to innovation in higher education and research. 

UBC IT
4 people on a stage; one person holding a microphone

Posted in

UBC IT Staff Hit the Ground Running at Vancouver Sun Run

April 28, 2026

UBC IT Staff Hit the Ground Running at Vancouver Sun Run

Congratulations to our staff members who represented UBC IT at the Vancouver Sun Run! The Vancouver Sun Run is Canada’s largest 10K road race. On April 19, 2026, the 42nd annual Sun Run featured approximately 57,500 registered participants, representing the second-highest total in the event’s history.  

Our staff kept the momentum going and represented Move UBC with pride. Most importantly, everyone made it across the finish line! While the event focused on promoting team wellness, it also included a bit of friendly competition as the two fastest runners each received a $50 voucher. Congratulations to our top finishers, Benny Rajan and Swati Mittal. 

A massive thank you to all our runners, walkers, and amazing cheerleaders who supported us along the way. Way to go Team UBC IT!

5 staff at Vancouver SunRun
Selfie of 3 staff at Vancouver SunRun
UBC IT
Image of 5 staff at Vancouver Sun Run

Posted in

Smarter Phishing Defense at UBC Cybersecurity

April 14, 2026

Smarter Phishing Defense at UBC Cybersecurity

The UBC Cybersecurity team is leveraging artificial intelligence to stay ahead of phishing threats with two innovative tools: PhishSense and SNOWplow. Together, they automate the triage of phishing incidents, saving time and strengthening protection for the university community. 

PhishSense 

PhishSense is a machine learning solution developed at UBC to effectively classify emails as phishing, spam, or legitimate. By automating this process, the system helps cybersecurity analysts focus on the most urgent threats first to keep inboxes safer and reduce response times.

SNOWplow 

During large-scale phishing campaigns, ticket queues can quickly become overwhelming. SNOWplow was designed to streamline this process by grouping and automatically processing related incidents, allowing analysts to concentrate on new and emerging threats. When paired with PhishSense, SNOWplow evolves from a cleanup tool into a powerful platform for proactive defense.

Beginnings to Now 

What started as a simple script, SNOWplow, has grown into a mature application with features like Object Character Recognition (OCR) and compatibility with third-party tools. These innovations have significantly reduced manual workload and improved response efficiency across multiple teams. PhishSense has already processed thousands of incidents, enabling faster prioritization and more accurate threat detection. Working in tandem, these tools represent a major step forward in UBC’s commitment to cybersecurity. 

Future Direction 

The next generation of these tools is already in development. PhishSense 2.0 will focus on delivering greater speed and accuracy, while SNOWplow 2.0 will incorporate AI-driven enhancements to expand capacity and improve precision. Together, these tools equip analysts with the insight and speed to contain phishing attacks before they claim victims. 
 
Thank you to the Cybersecurity Information Security Management team for all the work they do to bring smarter, faster protection to the UBC community! 

UBC IT
Image of blue cyber sheild

Posted in

Shaping the Future: A Conversation with UBC’s New Chief Information Security Officer

March 19, 2026

Shaping the Future: A Conversation with UBC’s New Chief Information Security Officer

We sat down with UBC’s recently appointed Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Larry Carson, to discuss his career and vision for his first year as CISO. With more than 25 years of experience, Larry brings a long history of service to UBC and a deep understanding of our community. Larry has worked directly with many faculty, staff, and students to help keep UBC’s systems secure, lead incident response and prevention efforts, develop security standards, and advance the responsible use of AI and automation in cybersecurity operations. As CISO, Larry will lead the cybersecurity team in advancing UBC’s cybersecurity maturity and risk profile to ensure UBC’s data and infrastructure remain secure.  

A Career Built at UBC 

Larry’s journey at UBC began in the early 2000s in the Faculty of Forestry (now called the Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Stewardship). Hired as their IT Manager, Larry still remembers one of his early tasks: deploying a firewall. His interest in cybersecurity grew from an early passion for computers and evolved over time. "I realized I like working with people as much as I enjoy writing code and programs” he reflects. After obtaining a degree in computer science, moving into operations and then security roles, cybersecurity soon became a central focus of his career. 

Since 2002, Larry has held multiple roles at UBC focused on strengthening the university’s cybersecurity capabilities. He has been an integral part of the Privacy and Information Security Management (PrISM) initiatives, overseeing the creation and growth of the Security Operations Centre, and supported the deployment of many UBC IT cybersecurity capabilities for example in digital forensics and malware analysis. His work has strengthened relationships across BC and the Canadian higher education sector, as well as within the global cybersecurity community, through involvement with groups like BCNET and the Canadian Center for Cyber Security (CCCS). Larry was also one of the members of the working group that built the Canadian Shared Security Operations Center (CanSSOC), a collaborative initiative providing cybersecurity services, threat intelligence, and alerts to Canada’s higher education sector.  These experiences have shaped Larry’s deep understanding of UBC’s technology landscape and his dedication to the UBC community. 

Leading Through Change 

Larry steps into the CISO role at a time of profound technological transformation. AI is reshaping both the challenges and opportunities in cybersecurity and propelling the evolution of increasingly sophisticated and creative techniques from threat actors. “Right now, the world is going through a substantive change,” Larry explains. “We get these every now and again. Something that makes a significant impact on how everything operates. AI is one of those changes and it’s going to get even more disruptive in the next year.” When asked about the biggest cybersecurity challenges facing higher education today, Larry pointed to two primary risks: criminal organizations seeking to monetize institutions, and nation-states targeting intellectual property.  

To guide UBC through this shifting landscape, Larry’s upcoming priorities include developing an updated cybersecurity strategy and further integrating machine learning and AI into UBC’s security operations. These risks combined with the rapid pace of technological development, reinforce that for Larry, “the biggest job that I have in front of me is to prepare people for change.” 

Working Together to Protect UBC’s Data, Information, Systems and People   

While the Chief Information Security Officer is an important leadership role for the university, Larry also highlighted the efforts of staff that play a significant role in keeping UBC secure. “If we can respond rapidly, we can keep cybersecurity threats from impacting faculty, staff, and students.” He noted that the Cybersecurity team works around the clock, including weekends and holidays, to ensure that essential university operations remain stable. 

Cybersecurity requires balancing evolving technologies and standards with the need to avoid disrupting daily operations. Larry explains, “we don’t want to create unnecessary work for our community or push new technologies for the sake of it, but from time to time, change is necessary to keep the University’s data safe. Our responsibility is to make sure the community is prepared and supported when those changes come.” Striking this balance between supporting readiness for change while enabling the university’s core mission remains central to Larry’s approach as CISO. As Larry reinforces, “From a security perspective, we want to keep things operating and we want people to be successful… We’re here to help.”  

What can the UBC community do to support information security? The advice is clear: “if you see something unusual that doesn’t line up with what you expect, report it to security@ubc.ca.”As Larry notes, “Timing is everything to us.” 

Larry’s leadership is anchored in a clear purpose: supporting UBC’s academic mission. As he reflects, “We help to enable teaching and learning so the next generation of students can learn. And we help to enable research in greater ways that can improve the quality of life for everyone in society.” Furthermore, Larry believes security is not a “solo activity” for institutions, but a pursuit that requires higher education institutions working together, for example through organizations like BCNET or CanSSOC. This collaborative approach combined with Larry’s experiences will position UBC’s cybersecurity portfolio to continue enabling excellence, resilience, and innovation at UBC and across the post‑secondary sector. 

UBC IT
Image of Larry Carson with blue background

Posted in

Get Smarter With Your Password Management Practices

March 17, 2026

Get Smarter With Your Password Management Practices

With cyber threats on the rise, weak and reused passwords continue to be one of the biggest vulnerabilities individuals face online. Strengthening how you manage passwords is one of the simplest and most effective steps you can take to protect your digital identity.  

Key Reminders: 

  • Avoid reusing passwords across accounts: Using the same password across multiple services creates a domino effect: if one site suffers a breach, attackers can use that single password to try to access your other accounts, including your UBC login. 
  • Use a password manager to strengthen your security: A password manager can help you generate, store, and auto‑fill strong, unique passwords. With only one password to remember, they are an easy way to reduce the time you spend resetting forgotten passwords while improving your overall security. 
  • Create passkeys when they’re offered: Passkeys are an authentication method that uses your device and biometrics or a PIN instead of typed passwords. When available, creating a passkey can strengthen your security posture.  
  • Review UBC’s Information Security Standards: For guidance on protecting personal and institutional data, review UBC’s Information Security Standard U2, which outlines requirements for secure authentication practices. 

For updated information on passkeys and password managers, watch our workshop Navigating the Future of Your Digital Identity (Password Workshop), where UBC Cybersecurity experts discuss these topics, audience questions, and more.  

Want to learn more about password management? Explore these helpful UBC resources: 

UBC IT
Image of a key and lock

Posted in

M365 Roadmap: An Interview with a M365 Product Manager at UBC

March 4, 2026

M365 Roadmap: An Interview with a M365 Product Manager at UBC

As UBC continues to evolve its digital workplace, the M365 project team is laying the groundwork for a secure and seamless Microsoft 365 environment across UBC. To provide greater clarity on what this means for the UBC community, we sat down with Mark Belsito, Senior Product Manager for M365, to learn more about his role and the broader vision for M365 at UBC. 

What is your role as the Microsoft 365 Product Manager for UBC and what does it entail? 
As a Senior Product Manager for M365 at UBC, my role is to define and execute the M365 adoption strategy across the university. This includes building and maintaining the M365 roadmap, implementing governance, security, and compliance standards, managing stakeholder engagement, overseeing change management and user adoption initiatives, ensuring licensing compliance and cost optimization, and introducing new tools and features aligned with UBC’s strategic goals. 

What’s the future vision for Microsoft 365 at UBC? 
Our vision is to establish a secure, integrated, and collaborative technology ecosystem that supports UBC’s mission as a global leader in teaching, learning, and research.  

What’s the path to get there? 
We are following a phased roadmap: 

  • Phase 1: Build foundational services (Email migration to M365 for faculty, staff and students, setting up a licensing baseline, automating account provisioning, and introducing governance). 
  • Phase 2: Deploy collaboration tools (such as SharePoint Online, Forms, Copilot, Power BI, Office Suite Deployment, Teams Room integration), enhance the security and compliance feature set, and improve account lifecycle management.  

The team is currently nearing the end of Phase 1 and prepping for Phase 2. 

What are the main challenges you foresee, and how will we address them? 
We face new challenges on a regular basis and are attempting to be as agile as possible without impacting progress on critical priorities. User adoption has taken a few years but it is encouraging to see how the UBC community has embraced the M365 platform. It has become a critical piece of day-to-day operations for those working at UBC.  

Some of the challenges that we are currently working on addressing are: 

  • Improving our web presence to better communicate new features and services, and share progress with the UBC community. 
  • Offering training sessions and iterating to address ongoing changes to the M365 platform. 
  • Developing a means to charge back for premium services, so that the UBC community can acquire services such as enhanced Planner and Project offerings, Teams Premium, M365 Copilot, etc… 
  • Ensuring security and privacy compliance with UBC standards in an ever evolving platform. 
  • Managing storage consumption to account for new quotas that Microsoft has imposed at the M365 tenant level. As other universities across Canada have done, UBC will need to review the default quotas offered with our services. 

How will Microsoft 365 improve academic and administrative work at UBC? 
Moving to M365 will enable more collaborative capabilities for academic and administrative groups on campus. We will soon be rolling out the M365 Office Suite which will allow for better synchronous editing and collaboration, matching what is already available in the online version of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. With our services now in the cloud, we have the advantage of getting access to tools that are constantly improved and updated.  

Modern apps have improved accessibility features and integrate more seamlessly with other apps in the ecosystem. Microsoft Teams has greatly improved in the video conferencing space and offers a more collaborative experience than other conferencing tools. The team is also currently exploring opportunities in the education space, working with the Learning Technology Innovation Centre (LTIC) to test out potential features. Although there is a long road ahead, the team has made significant progress in building an attractive platform for academic and administrative groups at UBC. 

What impacts will Microsoft 365 have on users? How should users adjust to these changes? 
We have seen significant growth in usage in the M365 service over the last year, driven by the migration of email to M365. Usage has grown from about 50K active users in November 2024 to 80K active users on the platform in March 2026. More adoption means more opportunities to collaborate with colleagues. The team has been trying to address some of the challenges surrounding onboarding and have made major strides in this area. This involves dismantling a lot of legacy infrastructure and processes, and rebuilding them all behind the scenes. The onboarding processes will improve over time and make it easier to consume the M365 services. Unfortunately, not all M365 services are available yet. They will come in time, as we work through the phased approach mentioned previously. 

We hope that users will take advantage of the services that we have to offer, and we encourage faculty, staff and students to attend training sessions and leverage our support resources to learn how to better use the tools that we have available. 

How will M365 license distribution work? Who receives what license? 

  • The majority of faculty, staff and student employees get an M365 A3 license which includes access to Teams, OneDrive, Email and many other apps, and will soon include the option for a downloadable version of the Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.). A smaller subset of employees (service workers, unpaid clinical faculty and contractors) are eligible for an A1 license which includes access to web-only versions of the M365 apps. 
  • Students get an M365 A3 license which comes with the downloadable Office suite and a full suite of M365 apps. 
  • Emeriti and Guests are eligible for Email Only licenses.  

More information can be found on the M365 licensing page 

What training, resources, or support are available to help people make the most of Microsoft 365? 

  • M365 Website: You can find out more information on the M365 website. We’ll also be improving our web presence in the near future to make it easier for users to find information and support. 
  • Training Sessions: We typically offer two training sessions a month for the campus community. One on M365 Productivity (using Outlook, OneDrive and Teams) and one on M365 Copilot Chat. Keep an eye on the M365 Training webpage for upcoming sessions. 
  • Self-Help Resources: There are guides and FAQs on the UBC IT website for each of the M365 services, and you can try out the chatbot if you need help finding something. 
  • Support: If you run into issues and need assistance, the IT Service Centre can also help. 

What other M365 projects are in the pipeline? Are there any pilots or new tools/apps being tested? 

  • New Releases: We have enhanced our M365 Bookings app and now eligible staff, faculty, and student employees can request Shared Bookings pages to create appointments for a team of individuals. More information about this can be found on the IT website. 
  • Current Pilots: The team is currently exploring numerous services including Teams Premium, M365 Copilot, Microsoft Teams Rooms, and much more. 
  • Upcoming Initiatives: SharePoint Online rollout and site migrations, deployment of sensitivity labels, OneDrive/Teams quota management, billing automation, Alumni Email Forwarding are all on our radar, and we will continue advancing these initiatives as we move forward. 

As UBC moves into the next phase of its Microsoft 365 journey, efforts are centered on establishing a secure, integrated, and collaborative technology for the campus community. While change takes time, M365 is set to play a critical role in how we teach, learn, and work together. Stay tuned for upcoming launches, training opportunities, and service enhancements as UBC continues to build a modern, connected, and future-ready digital campus. 

UBC IT
M365 Logo on blue background

Posted in

Shared Microsoft Bookings Pages are now available at UBC

February 19, 2026

Shared Microsoft Bookings Pages are now available at UBC

Shared Microsoft Bookings Pages are now available to request for eligible UBC users. Shared pages are designed for departments and teams that need a central place to schedule and manage appointments, such as offering services, setting open office hours, and coordinating bookings across multiple staff members. 

What is a Shared Bookings Page? 

A Shared Bookings Page helps teams: 

  • offer multiple bookable services from a shared page 
  • customize business hours and availability 
  • enable staff members to manage their booking availability 
  • streamline appointment scheduling for internal and external audiences 

Before you request a new Shared Bookings Page 

Please only request a Shared Bookings Page when you must. Consider: 

  • Does another Shared Bookings Page already exist in your department/team? 
  • Can you use Personal Bookings instead for your scenario? 

Shared Bookings Pages are not intended for personal use. Even if you’re assigned ownership of a Shared Bookings Page, your department has the authority to request access if required. 

How to request a Shared Bookings Page 

Start here: 

We’ve published some How To’s to help you get started: 

Eligibility 

Eligible users: UBC Faculty, Staff, and Student Employees 
Ineligible users: Service Workers (A1), and Unpaid Clinical Faculty (A1), Contractors (A1), Guests (Email Only) and Students 

Microsoft Bookings is available for eligible UBC users with an M365 account. If you have not been migrated to Exchange Online, you are not eligible to own or administer a Microsoft Bookings page, however, you will still be able to book appointments using the application. 

UBC IT
Microsoft Bookings

Posted in

Upcoming Change for UBC Mac Users

February 18, 2026

Jamf Self Service moving to Self Service+

The system UBC uses to manage and update Mac computers (Jamf Pro) will be retiring the Self Service (Classic) app on February 28, 2026, and replacing it with a new, more modern application called Self Service+. UBC IT will be updating all managed Mac devices with the new application. This change ensures continued support, security updates, and compatibility with future macOS versions. 

Timeline and impact 

  • UBC will push the new Self Service+ app to all UBC managed Mac devices on February 28th. 
  • There is no impact to service expected during the transition. 
  • No user action is required. 

Navigating the new user interface 

The following screenshots show the slightly modified user interface in the new Self Service+ app.   

  • Self Service+ now opens from the home screen.  

  • To see software available to install, select Catalog from the left menu
  • There is a new icon to notify users of available updates

Any questions or concerns please contact UBCO IT support. 

Posted in