2025

Northwestern students spend countless hours each week behind laptops, conquering the challenges of daily classwork, extracurricular responsibilities, and professional tasks. As they operate within today’s age of digital efficiency, we wanted to talk to students to see what online tools and services help them minimize their workloads.

Microsoft has announced it will end support, updates, and security patches for its Windows 10 operating system after October 14, 2025. Northwestern IT and technology partners across the University are working together to upgrade all eligible affected University-owned and managed machines to Windows 11 before this deadline.

The myHR system will undergo scheduled maintenance to apply Oracle’s quarterly critical security patch and required tax update. The maintenance necessitates system downtime, meaning myHR, including Self Service and Careers, will be unavailable on Saturday, March 8, from 8 a.m. through approximately 6 p.m.

Northwestern IT Media and Technology Innovation (M&TI) teams partnered with researchers from the Bienen School of Music and Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital to create the Fontan Practice application, critical software used in a feasibility study to understand how singing and breathwork may improve lung and, subsequently, heart, functionality in pediatric heart disease patients.

Quest, including access to data on Quest, the Quest Analytics Nodes, the Genomics Compute Cluster (GCC), the Kellogg Linux Cluster (KLC), and Quest OnDemand, will be unavailable starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, March 22, and ending at 5 p.m. on Monday, March 31. This maintenance is necessary to deploy a new storage system and update the operating system to RHEL8.

The rapid adoption of generative AI in higher education has brought its challenges for professors, but it also can bring about solutions and augment classroom learning. Entrepreneurship law students at the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law got first-hand experience with this when the Law School teamed up with Northwestern IT to bring a custom generative AI chat simulation tool to the classroom to support client role playing and enhance student experiences.

It can be hard to keep up with all the ways scammers seek to obtain personal and sensitive information from unsuspecting victims. Phishing attempts are significantly higher around holidays and certain times of the year, like tax season. Having the tools to spot a scam can protect you from giving away financial and other personally identifiable information. Learn about some of the more current phishing trends.

CAESAR will undergo scheduled maintenance on Saturday, March 1, requiring downtime from 8 a.m. to approximately 4 p.m. During the maintenance window, CS860QA and CS860SUP will be available for reporting needs.

Join some of higher ed’s top security engineers and analysts for an internship this summer in Bloomington, Indiana! The program runs from June 18 through July 25. Explore real-life cybersecurity applications, gain hands-on experience in cybersecurity foundations, and guidance from subject matter experts. Applications are open through March 2. Space is limited. Apply today!

The NUFinancials and CAESAR systems will undergo scheduled maintenance requiring downtime on Saturday, February 8. CAESAR will be unavailable beginning at 4 a.m. and ending at approximately noon. NUFinancial will be unavailable starting at 7 a.m. and ending at approximately 3 p.m.

Most of us are constantly connected to the internet, so protecting how personal information is used and shared is essential. The National Cybersecurity Alliance has designated January 27-31 as Data Privacy Week. Learn the practical steps to protect your online privacy and safeguard your data.