February 15, 2008
U. of Virginia Professor Advocates More Privacy Protections
Siva Vaidhyanathan, an associate professor of media studies and law at the University of Virginia, exhorts people to take control over how their online personal information is accessed and disseminated in a free article this week in The Chronicle Review.—-Andrea L. Foster
Posted on Friday February 15, 2008 | Permalink | CommentFebruary 11, 2008
More Colleges Suffered Data Losses in 2007 Than in 2006, Study Finds
More than a million private records of students were compromised in campus-security breaches in the United States last year, and the number of colleges reporting such incidents was far higher than the previous year, according to a study that analyzed reports on computer security by the news media and computer-security organizations.
In 2007, 112 colleges reported computer-security incidents, up from 65 in 2006. The total number of incidents last year was 139, up from 83 the previous year. (Some colleges suffered more than one incident per year.)
About 100 of the incidents exposed Social Security numbers, involving a total of 1,085,708 records.
A growing number of colleges suffered breaches involving educational data like student grades and class schedules. Last year 30 incidents involved educational data, while only one incident involved that type of data the previous year.
It is unclear whether some of the increase in reported incidents can be attributed to an increase in the media’s interest in writing about computer security.
The study was done by Adam D. Dodge of the Educational Security Incidents Web site. The project started while Mr. Dodge was a graduate student in computer-security at Norwich University. He now works as the assistant director for information security at Eastern Illinois University, but he says his work on the report is not connected with his role there. —Jeffrey R. Young
Posted on Monday February 11, 2008 | Permalink | CommentCollege Computer Thief Nabbed in New York City
The New York Police Department arrested Nelson Almeyda last week and charged him with felony and misdemeanor counts for allegedly stealing several laptop computers from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York City and from two libraries at Columbia University, according to an article Friday in the Columbia student newspaper.
When arrested Mr. Almeyda, who is not affiliated with Columbia, reportedly had a laptop that was stolen from New York University.
One of the laptops he stole from Columbia contained a graduate student’s master’s thesis, according to the Daily Spectator. After the theft, the student appealed to the criminal in fliers posted around the campus to e-mail her the thesis. —Andrea L. Foster
Posted on Monday February 11, 2008 | Permalink | Comment [4]February 7, 2008
Union U. Uses Facebook to Post Updates After Tornado Rips Through Campus
When a tornado struck Union University this week, administrators used a variety of Web tools, including the institution’s Facebook page, to post up-to-the-minute information.
The page on Facebook, the popular social-networking site, has many of the same updates that were posted on the university’s offical emergency blog. But the Facebook page has also attracted personal comments on the university’s “wall,” an open bulletin board. “I just wanted to send my prayers from Minnesota,” wrote one Facebook user. “It is at times like this when I remember why I love Union!” wrote another, adding that “the community and culture at Union is one that cannot be duplicated elsewhere — or at least, I haven’t found a similar one yet.”
The page also features photographs and videos of the campus’s damaged buildings and of rescue workers responding to the crisis.
Though much has been written about using text messages to alert students and professors to campus emergency information, this is the first we’ve heard of an institution using Facebook this way. —Jeffrey R. Young
Posted on Thursday February 7, 2008 | Permalink | Comment [2]January 30, 2008
Computer Theft Leaves Georgetown U.'s Data Unprotected
About 38,000 alumni, students, and current and former employees of Georgetown University were told Tuesday that their personal data, including Social Security numbers, had fallen into the wrong hands. The information was stored on a computer hard drive that was apparently recently stolen from a locked room in the student-affairs office. The Washington police department is investigating the crime.
A Georgetown press release says university officials have no indication that anyone has misused the data. Officials are notifying those affected by the security breach and encouraging them to place a fraud alert on their credit reports. —Andrea L. Foster
Posted on Wednesday January 30, 2008 | Permalink | CommentJanuary 25, 2008
Macs May Lose Safety Advantage Over Windows
Macs just aren’t as safe as they used to be. Users of Macintosh computers, including many in higher education, have touted their machines’ superiority over Windows and PC’s when it comes to resisting hack attacks and viruses. But according to Sophos, a computer-security firm that just issued a report on security problems, Macs are losing their safety edge.
“Although Macs have a long way to go in the popularity stakes before they overtake PC’s, particularly in the workplace, their increased attractiveness to consumers has proven irresistible to some criminal cybergangs,” Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said in a written statement.
Such criminals have, up until now, largely ignored Macs because so many poorly protected Windows machines serve as ripe targets. But in late 2007, versions of the malicious OSX/RSPlug Trojan horse were planted on Web sites to infect Mac surfers, with the goal of identity theft and phishing, the Sophos report says.
Since the malware worked, there may be more Mac attacks in 2008 — that’s the way these things go. But if Mac users adopt good computer hygiene (scan for viruses, don’t accept unknown e-mail, etc.), then attackers will probably renew their focus on the larger target, Windows, and leave Macs alone. —Josh Fischman
Posted on Friday January 25, 2008 | Permalink | Comment [9]College Students Abroad Charged With Cyberattacks
On Thursday two college students from abroad were punished for allegedly perpetrating attacks on computer systems. In Japan a 24-year-old graduate student, Masato Nakatsuji, was arrested on suspicion of creating a computer virus, which he embedded in familiar animations and distributed through a file-sharing program, according to an article in Japan Today. Since Japan has no law forbidding the development of computer viruses, law-enforcement officials accused Mr. Nakatsuji of distributing images in violation of copyright law.
A 20-year-old Estonian, Dmitri Galushkevich, was fined for launching denial-of-service attacks that locked up the Web site of an Estonian political party, according to an article distributed by IDG News Service. Mr. Galushkevich’s fine is approximately $1,642. —Andrea L. Foster
Posted on Friday January 25, 2008 | Permalink | Comment [4]January 14, 2008
Blackboard Buys Emergency-Messaging Company
Extending its array of college services, Blackboard, a maker of course-management software, said today it would buy an emergency-notification company, NTI Group Inc., that specializes in sending alerts to educational institutions. The deal was reported by Bloomberg News and several other wire services.
Michael Chasen, CEO of Blackboard, said the deal would cost it $182-million and should be completed by March 31.
Campuses have been paying ever more attention to emergency-notification planning since last spring’s shootings at Virginia Tech and subsequent incidents at Delaware State and Louisiana State Universities. NTI sends mass notifications to people at schools and colleges using text messages and voice mail to cellphones as well as e-mail and other channels. —Josh Fischman
Posted on Monday January 14, 2008 | Permalink | CommentDecember 21, 2007
Google Teaches Users About Privacy by YouTube
Google, on the heels of a report released this week that says most users—many of them college students—don’t worry about their personal information showing up through search engines, announced a new series of videos meant to educate users on Google’s privacy settings.
The series, appearing on YouTube’s Google Privacy Channel, is part of the corporation’s effort to raise awareness about how users can control their personal information when using Google’s products, according to the Official Google Blog.
The videos cover different topics, like how users can manage their search histories and adjust cookie preferences, enhancing users’ control over how their personal information is displayed.
Apparently, though, making videos about privacy on the Web can be as troublesome as, well, privacy on the web. Google shows this, too, lightening things up with a blooper reel:
—Hurley Goodall
Posted on Friday December 21, 2007 | Permalink | Comment [2]December 17, 2007
More on LSU's Malfunctioning Emergency-Notification System
Officials at Louisiana State University say they have now resolved the problem that caused an emergency-notification system to fail to send a campuswide warning to many students last week after a double murder at a campus apartment building.
It is still not clear how many people failed to receive the text messages at the time they were sent, or if any of the messages initially went through.
Doug Kaufman, chief executive of ClearTXT, said in an e-mail interview late Sunday that the problem occurred because of “a misunderstanding between LSU and ClearTXT about how enrollment data were to be collected from subscribers” via the campus’s Web-based sign-up system.
“We have worked together to clarify how enrollment data is to be collected and the situation has been resolved,” he added.
Martin Ringle, chief technology officer at Reed College, said in an interview on Friday that the incident emphasized the importance of testing new notification systems before trouble hits, though he noted that he does not know the details of the LSU incident.
At Reed, officials are installing and testing a service called Connect-ED, by the NTI Group.
“We’ve been testing as we go to make sure that we know who is being reached and to make sure that the people are fully trained in its use,” Mr. Ringle said. “So many people in higher education believe that when you throw technology at a problem, it’s going to be fixed,” he said. “And they fail to realize just how complex the use of a technology has become.”
In a statement issued on Saturday, LSU officials said that they plan a full-scale test of the system January 18, the week classes resume after the holiday break. —Jeffrey R. Young
Posted on Monday December 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comment [1]