{"id":538,"date":"2018-10-11T15:09:45","date_gmt":"2018-10-11T19:09:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.biota.utoronto.ca\/?page_id=538"},"modified":"2026-04-16T17:02:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T21:02:07","slug":"what-we-do","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wp.biota.utoronto.ca\/","title":{"rendered":"What we do"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Support for computing in CSB<\/a>, EEB<\/a>, and HMB<\/a> is provided by the BIOTA<\/em> group. We provide day-to-day computing support for staff, faculty, researchers, and for teaching. We maintain departmental services, building networking, system security, and provide planning support for IT issues.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Please direct all support requests to:  biota@utoronto.ca<\/a>
Ryan MacDonald \u2022<\/em> James McGuire-Boyer<\/em> \u2022 Mark Roy<\/em>
Or drop by our offices in RW 336<\/strong> or ESC 3053<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note that a number of important services are supported centrally by the University. For help with your email account, Duo\/UTORMFA, campus wireless, LISTSERV, and other central U of T services, please contact the Information Commons Help Desk:
https:\/\/uthrprod.service-now.com\/infocomm<\/a>
help.desk@utoronto.ca<\/a>  \u2022  978-HELP (4357)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quercus\/Canvas support, and A\/V support for the Ramsay Wright Teaching labs is provided by Faculty of A&S Information & Instructional Technology (IIT):
iit@artsci.utoronto.ca<\/a>  \u2022  946-HELP (4357)<\/strong>
To see which classrooms are supported by BIOTA and which are supported by other groups, please see: AUDIO VISUAL Support by ROOM<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UTORid<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Do not approve Duo requests if you did not just try to log in to a University service.
Please inform us if you see unusual account activity like this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Change your password on the UTORid management page: https:\/\/utorid.utoronto.ca\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wi-Fi<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wi-Fi is available in all campus buildings. Connect to the wireless network called UofT<\/strong>, log in with your UTORid and password.
Visitors to campus may be able to connect to the network called eduroam<\/strong> (if they are affiliated with a participating institution). See https:\/\/wireless.utoronto.ca<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Wireless router in your lab\/office? Use of these is discouraged.<\/strong> Please let us know if the campus wireless network “UofT” is inadequate in your neighbourhood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We see it all the time…<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fraud.<\/strong>
If you receive an email warning you to “upgrade your account” or threatening that your account will be deactivated unless you click some link, it is always fraudulent. These messages are from scammers trying to steal your UTORid + password or your banking details.
The University will never send an email asking for your UTORid and password. Not for any reason. Guard your UTORid + password. It should only ever be entered on the University’s familiar authentication page. Always take note of the web address at the top of your browser and ensure it begins with “utoronto.ca”. Do not proceed if you see a certificate warning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hard drives fail. USB memory sticks fail.<\/strong>
The disk inside your computer will fail; it is simply a question of when. Your Windows or Mac computer has built-in backup software. Use it. Keep your entire hard drive backed up so you can recover from a catastrophe.
Your trusty flash drive will fail; it is simply a question of when. You likely will not have any warning. Save your important files on at least two devices at all times. Store your important documents in your OneDrive<\/a> account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Windows computers absolutely need anti-virus software.<\/strong>
Viruses and malware can steal personal information, destroy data, and turn your computer into a criminal Internet zombie. Install an anti-virus program and keep it up-to-date. See our recommendations here<\/a>. Install operating system updates promptly on Windows, Mac, and Linux. Keep installed software up-to-date, especially web browsers. DO NOT run Windows versions older than Windows 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stuff gets lost\/stolen.<\/strong>
If you work with sensitive files such as research, student, or administrative data — and particularly if you use a laptop — University policy requires that you encrypt your hard drive, external drives, and USB sticks. Encryption makes it practically impossible for anyone to access the data without your password. It\u2019s easy to do with the built-in FileVault on Mac, and BitLocker on Windows.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Support for computing in CSB, EEB, and HMB is provided by the BIOTA group. We provide day-to-day computing support for staff, faculty, researchers, and for teaching. We maintain departmental services, building networking, system security, and provide planning support for IT issues. Please direct all support requests to:  biota@utoronto.caRyan MacDonald \u2022 James McGuire-Boyer \u2022 Mark RoyOr drop by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.biota.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/538"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.biota.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.biota.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.biota.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.biota.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=538"}],"version-history":[{"count":50,"href":"https:\/\/wp.biota.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/538\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1270,"href":"https:\/\/wp.biota.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/538\/revisions\/1270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.biota.utoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}