***************************************************** Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting the intelligent use of information technology. *****************************************************
TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2005 Online Education Expands in Africa Reaction to Expected Extension of PATRIOT Act Provisions Hacker Hits IU Feds Win Guilty Pleas in ID Theft Racket ONLINE EDUCATION EXPANDS IN AFRICA The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has announced a grant to fund online education efforts in Africa. The $900,000 grant will support the Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa consortium, which is working to develop an online portal that will offer a broad array of educational materials from institutions such as MIT, the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, and Chinese Open Resources for Education. According to Kuzvinetsa Peter Dzvimbo, rector of the African Virtual University, which is part of the consortium, Africa is in great need of math and science teachers, and the new portal will be used in "teach the teacher" programs to educate new instructors in sub-Saharan Africa. The online resources will not be limited to teachers, however. Beginning in Tanzania and South Africa and spreading to other African countries, the portal will be openly available to anyone with Internet access. Dzvimbo said he hopes that eventually teachers in Africa will join the online efforts alongside the professors and students in the United States who will be initially involved. Inside Higher Ed, 17 November 2005 http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2005/11/17/africa REACTION TO EXPECTED EXTENSION OF PATRIOT ACT PROVISIONS Groups opposed to two provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act up for review expressed disappointment at a tentative plan to extend both. The proposed extension was written by a conference committee charged with reconciling House and Senate versions of a bill covering the parts of the act that will otherwise expire at the end of the year. Under the plan, the provision that allows the government to issue so-called national security letters without a judge's approval would be made permanent and would allow for criminal prosecutions of individuals who reveal that they have received such a letter. The plan does not make changes to the second section of the act at issue, the library provision, that were included in the Senate bill. Those changes included requiring the government to demonstrate a connection between terrorists and individuals whose records were sought. The Senate bill also called for another review of the library provision in four years; under the proposal, it would not be reviewed for seven years. The plan does include limited concessions. Those who receive national security letters would be allowed to discuss them with their attorneys, and the government would be required to disclose certain details about how the national security letters are used. Chronicle of Higher Education, 18 November 2005 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/daily/2005/11/2005111801t.htm HACKER HITS IU Officials at Indiana University reported that a routine scan of computer systems turned up malicious software on the computer of a faculty member at the Kelley School of Business. According to James Anderson, the schoolÂ’s director of information technology, the software could have been used to access the personal information of about 5,300 current and former students at the university, though no reports have surfaced that the information was used illicitly. The school has notified the students who are possibly affected and encouraged them to monitor their credit reports for suspicious activity. Daniel Smith, dean of the Kelley School, said all of the institution's computers are being audited to ensure they are free of malicious software and have current antivirus and system patches installed. Associated Press, 18 November 2005 http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/news/local/13202338.htm FEDS WIN GUILTY PLEAS IN ID THEFT RACKET Six individuals caught in a Secret Service sting called Operation Firewall pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit credit and bank card fraud and ID document fraud. Two other individuals involved in the scam previously pleaded guilty to the same charge. All were among 19 who were indicted last year, charged with running a private-access Web site where people from around the globe bought and sold sensitive information, such as Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, and fake IDs. The ID theft ring is thought to have trafficked in more than 1.5 million credit card numbers, close to 18 million e-mail accounts, and other information that was used to buy and sell merchandise online. One who pleaded guilty, Wesley Lanning, specialized in making and selling fake IDs. His attorney, Marc Leibman, said that although Lanning sold most of the IDs to teens to use to buy beer, "obviously everyone is concerned that some...militant is going to get one of Wesley Lanning's fake IDs and use it to transport a bomb." Wired News, 17 November 2005 http://www.wired.com/news/infostructure/0,1377,69616,00.html ***************************************************** 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. To access resources including articles, books, conference sessions, contracts, effective practices, plans, policies, position descriptions, and blog content, go to http://www.educause.edu/resources ***************************************************** CONFERENCES For information on all EDUCAUSE learning and networking opportunities, see http://www.educause.edu/31 ***************************************************** COPYRIGHT Edupage copyright (c) 2005, EDUCAUSE
