Microsoft Validation and IT Security Practices for FDU Owned Equipment

Microsoft enforces an occasional license validation for our enterprise version of their Windows Operating System and Office Software Suite.  For our community, this occurs automatically when an FDU owned device is connected to the FDU network.

Before the pandemic, this process did not require discussion. However, now that many of our faculty and staff members are working remotely, we need to ensure that everyone validates on a routine basis. This can be done by simply logging into the FDU VPN. Please make sure to connect to the VPN at least once per week for a minimum of 30 minutes. This will ensure that the Microsoft validation can occur successfully.

In the event that your license is set to expire in the immediate future, you will see the following error message. 

If you receive this error message, simply connect to the FDU VPN for a period of 30 minutes and the issue should resolve itself. If the message persists after the 30 minute period, please contact the University Technical Assistance Center at (973)-443-8822.

Now that the semester is well under way, it is a good time to remind the community that we are in a period of unprecedented phishing attempts. Our faculty and staff have done a great job in recent months in not responding to the attempts that manage to breach our spam filters. However, new and more convincing attempts are always around the corner. Please review Spot a Phishing Scam for assistance with determining if a message is legitimate.

Additionally, please be aware that for security purposes, your FDU NetID account will be locked after five failed login attempts. In the event that this happens to you, please contact our Technical Assistance Center at (973)-443-8822. They can assist you with unlocking the account and resetting your account password.

Our continued goal is to ensure that your IT experience is as simple as possible during this difficult time. Thank you for your attention.

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