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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 2004 NYU Student Data Posted on the Web Latest Patch Is a Trojan Horse Arizona Looks at Facial Recognition Online Newspaper Service NYU STUDENT DATA POSTED ON THE WEB A Massachusetts man last week posted names, Social Security numbers, and in some cases phone numbers of around 1,800 students of New York University on his Web site. The incident highlights a growing concern over the use of Social Security numbers as student identifiers, a longstanding practice at many U.S. colleges and universities. Brian Ristuccia obtained the information from an NYU Web site and said he only posted it after sending anonymous letters to the university about the problem. Ristuccia said his letters were anonymous because organizations with security problems often "blame the person that discovers the problem." John Beckman, a spokesperson from NYU, apologized for the exposure of personal information, saying it was a result of someone in the athletic department who failed to use appropriate security tools to protect the student information. Beckman questioned the veracity of Ristuccia's story, however, and said the university had not received any notice of the security breach until the information was on Ristuccia's site. New York Times, 10 January 2004 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/10/nyregion/10identity.html LATEST PATCH IS A TROJAN HORSE The newest computer virus--like last fall's Swen worm--is making its rounds of the Internet masquerading as a Microsoft patch. A so-called "social engineering attack," the Xombe e-mail attempts to take advantage of gullible Internet users by claiming to be a critical update for Windows XP. The Xombe is a Trojan horse that downloads an executable file that can launch a denial-of-service attack. Parts of the Xombe e-mail also attempt to allow the malicious code past antivirus software. Ken Dunham, director of malicious code at iDefense, however, said the new virus primarily targets Internet users whose computers lack any security tools whatsoever and who can be easily lured into opening an attachment, supposedly for security reasons. "This is the malicious attackers playground of choice," said Dunham. Internet News, 9 January 2004 http://www.internetnews.com/ent-news/article.php/3297661 ARIZONA LOOKS AT FACIAL RECOGNITION Educators in Arizona are considering using facial recognition technology to improve security at schools and possibly help locate missing children. Royal Palm Middle School in Maricopa County is hosting a pilot project in which two face-scanning systems were installed at the school's main entrance. Images of those entering the building are compared to faces of known sex offenders and missing children, as recorded by state and federal databases. The technology, which is made by Hummingbird Defense Systems, would cost as much as $5,000 per school and has the support of Tom Home, the state's superintendent of schools. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has raised several objections to the systems, including privacy concerns and questions over the accuracy of the systems. The ACLU requested that the systems be taken down, but the local sheriff's department and school district officials said they would remain in place at least until mid-March. Federal Computer Week, 12 January 2004 http://www.fcw.com/geb/articles/2004/0112/web-face-01-12-04.asp ONLINE NEWSPAPER SERVICE NewspaperDirect, which provides digital delivery of around 185 newspapers from around the world, will announce a new version of its service geared toward libraries. For $200 a month, libraries will be able to subscribe to the service, which covers 160 papers from around the United States and 27 other countries. Subscribing libraries can connect to NewspaperDirect's Web site to access papers, or they can use a print-on-demand feed to produce hard copies of papers for an extra fee. Since December 2002, Vancouver Public Library has tested the print-on-demand system, which reportedly can print an entire issue in less than five minutes. NewspaperDirect keeps records of which newspapers are accessed, either through the Web or the print-on-demand system, and returns those numbers to the publishers. Information Today, 12 January 2004 http://www.infotoday.com/newsbreaks/nb040112-1.shtml ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For past issues of Edupage or information about translations of Edupage into other languages, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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