Information
Technology
Information
Technology
Diné College
Our Mission
IT Department: providing secure, reliable, and integrated tech solutions aligned with academic and administrative goals, while delivering excellent customer service. Our mission includes: partnering with the college community to understand it needs, leading effective use of emerging technologies, and demonstrating technical and operational excellence through professionalism and continuous improvement.Our Vision
Information Technology department will be recognized as a high-performance team providing technology excellence that advances learning, teaching, research, and student formation in alignment with Diné College’s mission and goals.Our Services
Our focus is on delivering you the absolute best support, guiding you through training and providing forward-thinking solutions.
Administrative Services
Streamline administrative tasks by logging in to your MY DC Portal.
Tips and Resources
Unlock Your Digital Potential: Need assistance navigating the IT portal?
IT Policies and Procedures
Information Technology:
Empowering productivity, extending education, and ensuring security for Diné College’s growth.
Live Chat Support
Live chat support is a way for our students and faculty to have real-time, back-and-forth conversations with support agents.
Security Awareness Program
A Security Awareness Program is a structured initiative aimed at educating and training within organizations.
CyberSecurity Awareness Month
Stop, Think,
Verify, Report
Learn how to recognize phishing attempts, suspicious links, and urgency tactics.
- Spot red flags in emails and messages
- Check links and attachments before clicking
- Be aware of urgent or pressure tactics
- Report suspicious activity to IT
Why It Matters
Phishing messages are designed to look legitimate and convince you to click a link, open an attachment, or provide personal or account information.
Watch for These Red Flags
- Unexpected emails or messages
- Urgent or threatening language
- Links that do not match the sender
- Unexpected attachments
- Requests for passwords or account information
What Should You Do?
Stop before clicking. Verify who sent the message and inspect the link carefully. If something does not look right, do not respond or provide information.
An email saying “URGENT” does not make it legitimate. Always verify the sender and check where a link actually goes before clicking.
Protect
Your Account
Take simple steps to keep your accounts and personal information secure.
- Use strong passwords or passphrases
- Keep your passwords unique
- Enable and use MFA (Microsoft Authenticator)
- Never approve unexpected Authenticator requests
Why Account Security Matters
Your password is often the first line of defense for your College account. If someone gains access to your credentials, they may be able to access email, files, personal information, or other College systems.
Create Strong Passphrases
Longer passwords and passphrases are generally harder to guess or crack. Avoid using names, birthdays, common words, or information that someone could easily learn about you.
- Use long and memorable passphrases
- Use a different password for each important account
- Never share your password with another person
- Do not reuse your College password on personal accounts
MFA Adds Another Layer of Protection
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) helps protect your account even if someone obtains your password. Diné College may use Microsoft Authenticator to verify that a sign-in attempt actually belongs to you.
If you receive an MFA or Microsoft Authenticator approval request that you did not initiate, do not approve it. Someone may already have your password and may be trying to access your account.
What Should You Do?
- Deny unexpected MFA requests
- Do not approve repeated prompts just to make them stop
- Change your password if you suspect it may be compromised
- Report suspicious account activity to IT
An MFA notification should only appear when you are actively trying to sign in. If you did not initiate the login, do not approve the request.
Scams Don’t
Always Look
Like Scams
Learn about social engineering, modern scams, and how attackers try to trick you.
- Fake job offers and financial aid scams
- QR code scams
- Fake Microsoft login pages
- Text message scams (smishing)
- AI-assisted phishing attempts
What Is Social Engineering?
Not every cyberattack begins with malware or a technical exploit. Social engineering is when someone tries to manipulate you into providing information, sending money, opening a file, clicking a link, or giving them access to an account.
Common Scams to Watch For
- Job offers that promise unusually high pay or ask you to purchase equipment with a check
- Messages claiming there is a problem with financial aid, tuition, refunds, or student accounts
- QR codes that direct you to unexpected login or payment pages
- Microsoft 365 pages asking you to sign in after clicking an unexpected email link
- Text messages asking you to click a link, verify an account, or respond immediately
A QR code is simply another way of opening a link. Before entering a password, payment information, or personal information after scanning one, make sure you trust where the QR code came from.
Fake Login Pages
Attackers may create websites that look almost identical to legitimate Microsoft or College login pages. Their goal is to convince you to enter your username and password so they can steal your credentials.
Pay attention to the website address before entering your information. If you reached the login page through an unexpected email or text message, stop and verify it first.
Scammers can use artificial intelligence to create convincing emails, messages, images, and other content. Good spelling and professional-looking messages are no longer enough to prove that something is legitimate.
Stop and Verify
If someone asks for money, account information, passwords, verification codes, or immediate action, use another trusted method to verify the request before continuing.
- Do not rely only on the sender's display name
- Check the actual email address
- Inspect links before opening them
- Be cautious when a message creates urgency or fear
- Contact IT if you are unsure whether something is legitimate
A professional-looking message can still be a scam. When something involves your password, money, or personal information, stop and verify before acting.
Something
Happened,
Now What?
If you clicked a suspicious link, entered your information, or think your account may be compromised, here's what to do.
- Steps to take right away
- What to do if you entered your credentials
- What to do if you approved an MFA request
- How to report and get help from IT
First: Don't Ignore It
Mistakes happen. What matters is responding quickly. If you clicked something suspicious or provided information before realizing something was wrong, stop interacting with the message or website and take action.
The sooner suspicious activity is reported, the sooner IT can investigate and help protect your account, device, and College information.
If You Clicked a Suspicious Link
- Close the suspicious webpage
- Do not enter any additional information
- Do not download or open files from the page
- Report the incident to IT
If You Entered Your Password
If you entered your Diné College username and password into a suspicious website, assume that someone else may now have those credentials.
- Change your password as soon as possible
- Do not reuse the compromised password
- Watch for unexpected MFA requests
- Contact IT and explain what happened
Contact IT immediately. An unexpected MFA request can mean someone already knows your password. If you approved the request, they may have successfully accessed your account.
If You Downloaded Something Suspicious
Do not continue opening or interacting with the file. Contact IT and explain what was downloaded and what happened. IT can help determine whether the device needs additional review.
What Information Should You Provide?
When reporting an incident, providing a few details can help IT investigate more quickly.
- What happened
- Approximately when it happened
- The email, text, website, or message involved
- Whether you clicked a link or opened an attachment
- Whether you entered your username or password
- Whether you approved an MFA request
You do not need to determine whether something is a cyberattack before contacting IT. If something seems suspicious, report it and let IT help investigate.
Reporting a security concern quickly helps protect more than one account. It can help IT identify threats that may also be targeting other students, faculty, or staff.
Providing trusted premier solutions to advance the Diné College higher education enterprise.
Diné Environmental Institute Research & Outreach (DEI)
- To encourage students to develop a strong interest in science, math and/or engineering and to complete Associate of Science and/or Bachelor degrees.
- To prepare students to transfer to a four-year college or university and complete Graduate degree programs in STEM.
- Through the BIO 485 and BIO 408 academic internship and an intensive ten (10) week hypothesis-driven annual summer internship program, provide real-life mentored research experiences for students at national laboratories, partnering federal agencies/universities and local communities to expose students to activities commonly encountered in scientific careers.
- To encourage Native American students to return to their communities as scientists and engineers.
The sustainability of DEI has been proven by the growth of university partnerships, research experiences, and internships for Diné students.
Information Technology:
Aarrin Yazzi, IT Director
Michele Vecenti, IT Operations Manager
Network Operations Center (NOC)
Tsaile Campus
Superfund terminologies/definitions & Diné Glossary:
- As a part of the Tronox clean-up activities, DEI developed a Diné Language Glossary on Superfund project terminologies. This Glossary will assist Diné interpreters and translators to better communicate with impacted Diné communities and promote community participation and input.
Diné Language Translations of Tronox-Specific Terminologies
Cove Video Documentary
DEI Research Projects and Resources
- www.epa.gov/navajo-nation-uranium-cleanup/cove-area-mines
- www.epa.gov/navajo-nation-uranium-cleanup
- http://sric.org/nbcs/docs/NBCS_overview_063014.pdf
- https://superfund.arizona.edu/core/community-engagement/gold-king-mine-spill
- Dine’ College Book Chapter 2011 Dr. Jody Waugh
- Navajo Nation Stove Exchange Study
Contact Us
Michele Vecenti
Acting IT Director
Office Hours:
Monday – Friday: 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Closed during Lunch: 12 p.m. – 1 p.m.