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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2005 Hackers Target Boston College Alumni Database New Campus Online TV Service Debuts GAO Says SEVIS Still Suffers Problems Report Offers Renewed Criticism for E-Rate Program HACKERS TARGET BOSTON COLLEGE ALUMNI DATABASE A computer at Boston College with access to an alumni database has been found to be infected with a virus that may have exposed personal information on more than 100,000 individuals. According to officials at the college, the computer was operated not by the college but by a third-party IT service, which officials declined to name. Although no evidence has so far surfaced that any of the information in the database was in fact accessed by hackers, officials decided to notify anyone who might have been affected. Jack Dunn, spokesperson for Boston College, said, "We thought it was necessary to send out the precautionary advisory to alert the alumni and to offer them steps that they could take to ensure their privacy." Dunn also noted that Boston College will hereafter delete Social Security numbers from its records, despite their usefulness in maintaining accurate records. Social Security numbers have lately been highlighted as one of the pieces of personal information that pose the greatest risk for identity theft. Members of Congress have recently proposed strict restrictions for how and when Social Security numbers can be gathered and sold. ZDNet, 17 March 2005 http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5623084.html NEW CAMPUS ONLINE TV SERVICE DEBUTS A new online television network began operating this month, offering programs from 33 college and university stations around the United States. The Open Student Television Network is supported by the CampusEAI Consortium in cooperation with Internet2. CampusEAI, a member of Internet2, is an organization of more than 100 colleges and universities dealing with software and digital content. The network runs on Internet2's high-speed backbone, resulting in an extremely high-quality signal. For those watching the new network who are not connected to Internet2, however, the picture quality can be compromised, though the sound works fine. Supporters of the network said it provides a needed avenue to get valuable campus-produced programming to broader audiences. Amy Grill, graduate student at Emerson University and manager of Emerson Television Channels, said, "We've got all of this content, and we're looking for ways to distribute it." Chronicle of Higher Education, 17 March 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2005/03/2005031701t.htm GAO SAYS SEVIS STILL SUFFERS PROBLEMS According to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), ongoing errors plague the Student Information and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), causing headaches both for visiting scholars and for many on college campuses. Although many errors are minor, those that are significant can result in a student's having to file for reinstatement and pay another fee. In some cases, students are denied entry into the country while the problem is being resolved. Witnesses at a Congressional subcommittee hearing on SEVIS testified that one of the main hurdles to streamlining fixes to the data is a requirement that SEVIS officials--rather than staff on campuses--must enter any changes. Lawrence H. Bell of the University of Colorado at Boulder noted at the hearing that in addition to expediting fixes, allowing campus staff to enter changes would free up federal officials to devote their energy to "enforcement efforts that target those who have truly violated immigration law." C. D. Mote Jr., president of the University of Maryland at College Park, called for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees SEVIS, to certify one person at each campus to enter changes to the system and be responsible for reporting those changes to the agency. Chronicle of Higher Education, 18 March 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2005/03/2005031806n.htm REPORT OFFERS RENEWED CRITICISM FOR E-RATE PROGRAM A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) puts forth renewed charges of fraud and mismanagement in the federal government's E-rate Program, designed to subsidize technology to connect U.S. schools and libraries to the Internet. The report was prepared for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which is conducting its own investigation. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), chairman of the committee, blamed the Federal Communications Commission, unscrupulous vendors, and certain schools for the problems in the program, which he said was a "disgrace." Although investigations have led to a handful of penalties for abuse in the program, the report advises increased efforts to clean it up. Among the report's recommendations are calls to "comprehensively determine which federal accountability requirements apply to E-rate; establish meaningful E-rate performance goals and measures; and take steps to reduce its backlog of appeals." Internet News, 17 March 2005 http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3490806 ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your settings, or access the Edupage archive, visit http://www.educause.edu/Edupage/639 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] ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE RESOURCES The EDUCAUSE Resource Center is a repository for information concerning use and management of IT in higher education. 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