Page Comparison

...

Problem 1

When accessing the software remotely from a Mac computer, certain keys do not work as intended. symptoms include pressing AltGr acts as Backspace, pressing C acts as ArrowLeft, or pressing e acts a delete, etc.

...

The next time the VSCode client is used to remotely connect, it should re-install the vscode-server files and provide a working session.

Problem 8

You previously were using UCSB Eduroam or UCSB Secure while using VSCode to connect to the CSIL and and Honea computers without using the VPN, VScode is now requiring the VPN.

Solution 8

Basically if your computer is 100% up to date, has no sketchy software installed, is on a stable secure connection, and luck favors you, you can probably connect without without the VPN, that being said, since that depends on a variety of factors, the majority of which are outside of ECI control, best we can say is:

there are a couple of reasons why the Campus Border Firewalls or the Campus Unified Threat Management (UTM) may block you, but the generally fall into one of a few categories.

Insecure connection:

If you have a weak or unstable connection, VS Code tries to compensate by using less secure methods to connect, several of which are explicitly blocked by the campus border firewalls.

Given wifi will vary from location to location and device to device we cannot guarantee any connection made by wifi will be stable.

Additionally there are multiple forms of wifi at UCSB, wireless web, mainly used for guest access, is unencrypted and thus considered insecure by default.

Solution: try to get as stable and secure a connection as possible and configure VScode not to use less secure methods. or USE THE VPNto encrypt your connection and turn an insecure connection into a secure one.

Insecure device:

There is a UC system wide policy that you essentially agree to when you use either the wired or wireless networks on campus. This applies to everyone and all devices, regardless of if they are personally owned or not:

https://security.ucop.edu/policies/security-controls-everyone-all-devices.html

VScode out of the box does not have firewalls enabled, allows two way ssh without a password, meaning people can get into your personal laptop while you are trying to ssh to a remote computer, and has a whole host of other security issues.

We highly recommend you lock computer down to require strong passwords, not allow inbound ssh connections via VScode, and have firewalls turned on preferably at the device level.

We also recommend do not have risky software installed, apply all OS and application updates as soon as possible, turn on automatic updates if possible and otherwise practice good security.

The more you look like a security risk to the Campus Border Firewalls or the Campus Unified Threat Management (UTM), the more likely you are to be blocked as a security risk.

Because the VPN requires you to sign in with both your UCSBnetID and DUO for MFA, it helps ensure that the person connecting is associated with UCSB  or at least gives the campus security people some contact info so they can contact you and ask you to secure your device.

USE THE VPN to lower your risk profile.

Active threat to other devices:

If a computer is far enough out of date, it becomes a risk not just to its user, but to other devices on its local network as bad actors can use it as a stepping stone to attack other devices.

Just because a computer was secure at the start does not mean it will remain secure, ALL OS that are no longer getting security updates have known security issues and vulnerabilities.

We have bad actors regularly scanning the entire internet looking for insecure devices.

For example, one recent test had a windows XP computer with a fresh install of the latest version of windows xp put online and within 10 minutes it was located and infected with multiple forms of malware.

If you have any form of Windows other than Windows 10 or 11, please update your OS to a version that is still getting security updates

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/get-the-latest-windows-update-7d20e88c-0568-483a-37bc-c3885390d212

If you have any form of MacOS other than Monterey, Ventura or Sonoma, please update your OS to a version that is still getting security updates

https://support.apple.com/en-us/108382

For Linux, supported OS are Ubuntu 20.04.6 LTS or higher, Fedora 38 or higher, and Centos 7 or higher

Ubuntu: https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/upgrading-ubuntu-desktop#1-before-you-start

Fedora: https://docs.fedoraproject.org/en-US/quick-docs/upgrading-fedora-new-release/

Centos: https://www.centos.org/centos-stream/

USE THE VPN to lower your risk profile in the short term, and AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, UPDATE YOUR COMPUTER

Related articles

...