Security/Privacy
- 6 Dead in Northern Illinois University Shooting; Gunman a Former Grad Student
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2/14/2008
(Update 13, 9:25 p.m. PST) Six are confirmed dead in the shooting Thursday at Northern Illinois University's DeKalb campus, including the gunman, who died of a "self-inflicted gunshot" before police arrived on the scene. Four of those fatalities were dead on the scene; two died of their injuries later in the hospital. All of the injured were students, according to NIU President John G. Peters, including an injured graduate instructor. The gunman was a former NIU graduate student in sociology.
- Microsoft Releases 6 Critical Patches
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2/14/2008
For the February security bulletin release, Microsoft rolled out six "Critical" fixes--rather than the seven detailed in the advanced notice--and five "Important" items.
- University of Illinois Taps Progress Software for Enterprise Messaging
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2/13/2008
As part of its five-year, $200 million Banner enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation, the University of Illinois said it will deploy Progress SonicMQ to handle enterprise messaging. SonicMQ acts as middleware for transaction messages.
- Google, Microsoft, IBM, VeriSign, Yahoo Join OpenID Board
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2/12/2008
In a move that could help deliver single sign-on to the masses, Google, Microsoft, IBM, VeriSign and Yahoo have joined a consortium that backs a common federated identity specification. The vendors jointly announced their membership to the OpenID Foundation's board Feb. 7. The OpenID spec allows individuals to create one user name, password, and other credentials for logging onto multiple Web sites that support the spec.
- Miami Dade College Signs on with County-wide Emergency Alert System
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2/11/2008
Miami Dade College (MDC) is enhancing its emergency communication on campus by joining the Miami-Dade County network implementation of WENS, the wireless emergency notification system run by Inspiron Logistics.
- OpenDNS To Launch Free Web Filtering for Education
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2/8/2008
Just what is "people-powered security?" It's how OpenDNS describes its forthcoming Web filtering solution targeted toward education. The service, set to launch later this month, taps into the expertise of IT professionals in schools (and in the private sector) to create a sort of reverse social tagging, blocking potentially dangerous sites based on users' experiences. Like all of OpenDNS' services, this new one is free, including support for deployment and integration in existing campus infrastructures.
- 3 Dead at Louisiana College
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2/8/2008
Two students were killed today in a classroom at Louisiana Technical College's Baton Rouge campus by a third student, who is also reported dead. According to information released by LTC, the shooter and the two victims were all women in their mid- to early 20s. An investigation is underway, and, as of this writing, no motive has yet been reported.
- P2P File Sharing on Campus: The Battle Isn't Over
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2/8/2008
The battle between the recording industry and higher education over student piracy has been raging for years. Are long-term trends emerging, and what do they mean for colleges and universities?
- Smart ID Cards and Locks Facing Resistance at New Jersey University
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2/8/2008
Faculty unions at Kean University in Union, NJ are fighting a new policy requiring employees to wear identification cards on campus. According to coverage in The Star-Ledger, the university spent about $30,000 on a pilot program to install keyless locks on classroom doors last fall. The locks can only be opened by swiping an authorized ID card.
- Use of Live Customer Data in Application Testing Still Widespread
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2/8/2008
A survey released by Compuware Corp. and the Ponemon Institute shows "an overwhelming majority of organizations surveyed risk compromising critical information by using actual customer data for the development and testing of applications."
- Network Access Control Adds Self-Service Registration for Users and Devices
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2/7/2008
Lockdown Networks has upgraded its network access control (NAC) solution, Lockdown Enforcer, implementing new features that simplify initial setup and user and device registration. A NAC ensures that only authorized users and policy-compliant devices can be added to an enterprise networks and provides a centralized mechanism for responding to malware outbreaks and other security events.
- Flash Ads Serving up Malware on Popular Sites
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2/7/2008
Malicious Flash banner ads have been surfacing on major web sites including Expedia.com, Rhapsody.com and MayoClinic.com in the last month, according to media reports. Users who click on the banners, which advertise a digital music service, a student dating service, and disk cleaning software, are redirected to Web sites that proceed to install malware on their PCs.
- SecureVue Rolls Out in Appliance Form
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2/7/2008
eIQnetworks has released its flagship security and compliance product, SecureVue, in appliance versions, one a central server and the other a regional server. SecureVue 3000 Central Server has 1.8 terabyte storage capacity and supports up to 15,000 events per second. The SecureVue 2000 Regional Server-- deployed in conjunction with the SecureVue 3000 Central Server for distributed environments--offers 1 TB storage capacity and supports up to 6,000 events per second.
- St. Bernard Debuts h-Series Security Appliances
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2/5/2008
St. Bernard Software this week launched a new line of security appliances, the new iPrism h-Series. Designed for enterprises of all sizes, the new models boast a 200 percent performance increase over their predecessors, according to the company.
- Web 2.0 Threats Loom Large for IT
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1/25/2008
With the seemingly exponential growth of Web 2.0 technologies, IT professionals in education--and all other sectors, for that matter--face new challenges as control over technology slips away and moves into the hands of users.
- Data Security: 13 Breaches Reported So Far This Month
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1/25/2008
A breach at Baylor University is the latest in a string of a more than a dozen data security incidents on United States campuses reported by a variety of sources so far in January 2008. According to a report yesterday in Baylor's campus newspaper, The Lariat, a student employee accessed the IDs of 526 users of the university's communications service, the Baylor Information Network. It was the second suspected "inside job" reported this month at a university.
- Macs Vulnerable to Malware? Say It Ain't So!
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1/24/2008
IT security firm Sophos this week let the cat out of the bag, spilled the beans, and otherwise debunked the widely treasured myth that Macs are invulnerable to malware in its "Security Threat Report 2008," released Tuesday. The report said that, among other things, "in 2007 [organized] criminal gangs for the first time arrived at Apple's doorstep with the intention of stealing money." Proof, the firm said, that "hackers are extending their efforts beyond Windows."
- MPAA Rescinds College Piracy Figures, Remains Unrepentant on Policy
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1/23/2008
Following a report from the Associate Press Tuesday, the Motion Picture Association of America Wednesday formally admitted that it made a blunder in its piracy statistics, which previously blamed college and university students for a whopping 44 percent of all movie industry losses attributable to piracy. It now says that figure is drastically lower than originally thought. But the association isn't backing down on its stance that the problem remains a "profound" one.
- NetSupport Debuts Desktop Mass Notification System
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1/23/2008
School security solution provider NetSupport Wednesday debuted a new notification system targeted not at cell phones or e-mail clients, but at desktops. The new system, NetSupport Notify, is now in beta and is being shown off at NetSupport's booth at the FETC conference going on this week in Orlando, FL.
- Strongspace's 10-Day Crash Highlights Web Storage Risks
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1/21/2008
For the last 10 days, Sausalito, CA-based online document and storage hosting company Joyent struggled to get its online secure document collaboration service, Strongspace, back online.
- SANS Flags Browsers, Botnets as Top Security 'Menaces'
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1/17/2008
Research and education organization the SANS Institute this week revealed its list of the top menaces facing IT in the coming year. Echoing earlier reports from security watchdog organizations, the group's "Top-10 Cyber Security Menaces for 2008" cited Web 2.0 technologies, converged devices, botnets, and browser addons among the worst, with a heavy emphasis on consumerized technologies and the vulnerabilities they present.
- Oracle Databases Go Unpatched, Survey Finds
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1/17/2008
Database administrators using Oracle Database products haven't been applying Critical Patch Updates, according to survey results described by Sentrigo Inc., which is in the business of providing database security software. Oracle typically releases its Critical Patch Updates on a quarterly basis, but these patches apparently are too much of a hassle to apply.
- CLASS Task Force To Release Report Today
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1/15/2008
Oklahoma's Campus Life and Safety and Security (CLASS) Task Force is expected to release a report today detailing the status of security on the state's public post-secondary institutions. The report, if all goes according to plan, will be handed over to Oklahoma Gov. Brad Henry with recommendations for increased security spending and greater collaboration between higher ed and law enforcement and mental health professionals.
- Oklahoma Task Force Calls for Increased Campus Security Spending
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1/11/2008
Oklahoma's Campus Life and Safety and Security (CLASS) Task Force next week will present Gov. Brad Henry with the results of its seven-month study on the state of campus security in Oklahoma. Among the recommendations, released in draft form this week, are calls for increased spending on security in post-secondary institutions and greater collaboration between higher education, law enforcement, and mental health professionals.
- Planning for the Next Disaster: Pandemic
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1/11/2008
The experts tell us that a pandemic is inevitable. The only question is when it will happen. Is your organization ready? Can you keep essential IT functions running? What can you do to be prepared?
