The School of Arts and Sciences, to consistently bolster our security position and protect University data, will be enabling the FileVault encryption mechanism on macOS machines in your area before November 30th, 2023. The process is handled predominantly through our management tools and requires minimal interaction by our end users to complete the process.
Summary:
- FileVault drive encryption will be enabled on all managed macOS computers on 11/30/2023. (All Windows computers are already encrypted)
- The process requires a logout and login to complete.
- You can contact SAS IT to do this ahead of time via a ticket.
- Please become familiar with the notifications and popups below that will inform you of the changes.
- There will be no impact to performance during the enrollment process or during normal use of your Rutgers machine.
- Find more information on this process, including screenshots here on our website.
Details:
Why: Securing your data is a major consideration for all computers we manage and maintain at the School of Arts and Sciences and a responsibility that must be shared between IT and the Faculty/Staff. A similar initiative was already put into effect to encrypt the drives and data on all Windows computers and we now are ready to implement the built-in, robust solution for MacOS called FileVault. The FileVault service that macOS offers will considerably improve data security of our systems in the event of theft, loss, or improper disposal.
What: Once enabled, FileVault will encrypt the information stored on a Mac so that it cannot be accessed unless a known user login/password is entered.
Who: This is ONLY for MacOS computers on WorkspaceOne, our Management server (which should be installed on all network connected macs)
When: FileVault will be enabled on ALL managed Mac computers on Wednesday November 30, 2023. You may schedule a more convenient time to complete this task in advance of the deadline if you would like by submitting a ticket at https://ithelp.sas.rutgers.edu/
How: The process to enable FileVault on your Rutgers machine is initiated by IT and should not take more than 5 minutes to apply to an internet connected machine. When it does, you should see the following notification in the upper right corner of the screen or in the notification center.
Clicking this notification will log you out of your account and ask you to input your password. If you were not logged into the system, the next time login you will be asked to Enable FileVault with the message below:
This prompt can be ignored once but upon your next logoff, you will be prompted to enable the service to continue to use the machine. After you have authenticated, a new window will appear that provides you with a FileVault recovery key. Please copy down this recovery key for your own records; it will also be saved in our management server automatically if you ever needed it like if you forget your password.
Once back at the login window, you may log back in and continue to use the system as you normally would.
There will be no impact to performance during the enrollment process or during normal use of your Rutgers machine.
If you believe that any machine you use should be exempt from this rollout or you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact SAS IT so we can discuss the specifics of your situation further and thank you for your help in securing Rutgers machines and data.
