During the last few days we have been targeted by hackers who have been running a brute force password attack through our VPN (virtual private network) system. In short, they repeatedly try to login to several of our accounts with different passwords. When we have excessive password failures we lock out the account for a short period of time, but then they start over again. This has resulted in a tremendous load on our VPN system and also on active directory where our passwords are stored. Unfortunately, Cisco, the vendor whose VPN system we currently use, does not have a technical solution to prevent this from happening because of the nature of the technology used.
In order to protect our VPN connections and reduce the password attempts directed at our Active Directory, we would like all VPN users to connect to https://vpn.wellesley.edu/secure in your web browser or enter vpn.wellesley.edu/secure in your Cisco AnyConnect client. Whereas some of you already use the secure version, many simply connect to vpn.wellesley.edu and this should be modified to include /secure. This change will be implemented starting at 8:00 AM tomorrow. At that time most existing VPN connections will stop working and you will be required to reconnect.
If you experience any issues connecting to /secure, please contact the LTS Helpdesk at 781-283-3333 or helpdesk@wellesley.edu.
