Archive for the ‘Education Security’ Category

Who Breached: City University of New York (CUNY)
Number Affected: 23,000
Information breached: Social Security Numbers
How: laptop theft

The City University of New York (CUNY) has notified 23,000 current and former students that their personal data has been breached following a laptop theft from a locked financial-aid office in Midtown.

CUNY sent letters to affected students on October 19th indicating the laptop was stolen around October 15th; representatives are not sure how access was gained to the secured room. Harvey Shifter, a spokesperson for CUNY’s Financial Aid office, said the laptop was non-functioning (a blue screen at activation) and password-protected. Despite this assurance, it is still possible to access the data via an external hard disk and to break the password.

Students were urged to contact their credit card companies and take other steps to protect their identities by initiating a fraud alert. No compensation is being offered in the form of credit monitoring services.

With no leads, the police have closed the case.

What is most worrying about this data breach is the response of school officials. It seems as though officials assume the data was safeguarded with a password.

Students have been unhappy with the response time of school officials in notifying them of the breach and in subsequent queries. Students have placed calls to the official noted in the breach notification that have gone unanswered.

Via SCMagazine, NY Post, the ticker Tags: cuny, data breach, city university of new york, data loss, identity theft, stolen laptop, laptop security

A laptop has been stolen from the University of Iowa, putting 184 students and graduates at risk for identity theft.

A former teaching assistant had the names, grades, and Social Security numbers for 184 students on a laptop, which was subsequently stolen from his home in Arizona. Only 100 of the names are suspected to have Social Security numbers attached to the files.

The students and graduates affected took “Philosophy and Human Nature,” “Philosophy and the Just Society,” or “Principles of Reasoning” taught by Tuomas Manninen some time between 2002 and 2006.

School officials say that identity theft is “unlikely”, since the Social Security numbers are “difficult to locate” in the files.

The University of Iowa is getting attention for this data breach. Although the breach only affects 184 students, a similar data breach occurred in 2006 when a professor’s laptop was stolen. At the time of the 2006 breach, the University of Iowa said they were trying to reduce the use of Social Security numbers.

Via wcfcourier ; Tags: university of iowa, data breach, data security, university security, social security numbers

Here is another great list of back-to-school technology essentials for high school or college students. The Vancouver Sun’s top 10 list of techno-savvy gear includes:

1. Laptop computer – as low as $399. Back-to-school bundles often include extra software or price reductions.
2. Software – A good Office set, anti-virus (set to auto-update), locking cables, and a product such as Absolute’s Lojack
3. Printer – consider just black & white to save on ink costs
4. Communications – cell phone, Skype account
5. Music & Entertainment – iPod with speakers
6. Memory Drives – flash drives.
7. Backpacks – suited for laptops
8. Camera – to capture memories of a once-in-a-lifetime school experience
9. Flat-Panel Monitor – can double as a tv
10. Extras – wireless mouse, keyboard

All of this technology should come with security education. It is important to teach teens about Internet Safety, about protecting personally identifiable information, and preventing laptop theft.

Tags: technology, student technology, school, back to school

Earlier this year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a report that indicated that young adults are at high risk for identity theft.

According to the report, youth spending longer periods of time online are putting themselves at high risk for exposing personal information. People between 18-29 experienced the highest levels of identity theft with 31% of total thefts.

College students do not realize how serious the threat of identity theft actually is, said Johnny May, certified identity theft risk management specialist and author of “Johnny May’s Guide to Preventing Identity Theft.”
“I think [students] believe they don’t have anything worth losing,” May said. “The reality is this makes is easier for identity theft to occur.”

Youth are not overly proactive in the area of I.D. theft security, most figure they don’t have much worth stealing. Therefore, they do not follow the basic steps to prevent identity theft. Youth should be encouraged to shred any documents with personal information, get an updated credit report, install antivirus software, and use a firewall.

“College students need to treat their personal information as if it were gold,” May said. Once it is out there, you can’t take it back.”

Via State Hornet ; hat tip to flying hamster ; Tags: identity theft, youth, id theft, id theft prevention, security

The Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner (IPC) of Ontario has released a letter written to the National Post in response to their article entitled “Privacy turns deadly.”

The National Post covered the recent report issued about the Virginia Tech Massacre. Their article points out the so-called fallacy of privacy regulations that “enabled” the massacre – the article states that the privacy laws prevented information about the mental health of Cho from coming to light, and that the same laws many times hindered his mental state from being examined more closely by the school and his own family.

IPC Ann Cavoukian issued a letter in response titled “Privacy is never deadly; inaction is at fault“, which neatly ties up the statements in her letter. She states that privacy is a base freedom, and the problems seen at Virginia Tech lie not with the privacy laws, but with individuals who fail to disclose information when it is required.

The laws allow for vital information to be disclosed in cases involving the health and safety of individuals. Perhaps it is a misunderstanding of the laws, in which case she points to a fact sheet on Ontario’s disclosure policies.

Clearly, educators and health care professionals have fears and misunderstandings about when to disclose private information, and this delay can be dangerous in situations when the information is required quickly.

Tags: virginia tech massacre, privacy, private information, privacy laws

The Kansas City School Board has approved a new program to supply all high school students (5,550) with laptop computers for the school day. The program will cost the district $6.4 million over 4 years.

“This is a bold, bold move and a difficult decision for the board,” acknowledged Superintendent Jill Shackelford.

The School Board has approved the program in order to “bridge the technology gap.”

As of yet, it has not been decided if students will be allowed to take the laptops home at night. Admittedly, this poses a greater security threat. If the lending program goes ahead, $10 computer insurance will be bought for each computer, and data security software to remotely wipe data will be installed.

Absolute Software’s Computrace products allow you to recover lost laptops, and also to remotely wipe data if needed.

Via KansasCity.com Tags: kansas city, laptop program, education, education technology, laptops in schools

We recently referenced an education technology piece on Absolute’s website, and I wanted to highlight it over here. The article by Westchester1 is called “High Tech Checklist for A-plus Students” and covers all the latest back-to-school technology for high school and college students – and what you need to keep it all safe.

All the latest technology (and what you need to protect it) for back-to-school:

1. Laptop Computer - for homework, research, and social networking.
   • Laptop Tracking & Recovery Software - such as Absolute’s LoJack for Laptops
   • Security Software & Hardware – includes the other basics like anti-virus, anti-spyware, encryption and firewall software, and a good cable lock
2. MP3 Player - one with good audio recording for recording lectures. Effective learning is both visual and aural.
   • Protective Materials - a case, screen protectors, & ID tags (or engraving)
3. Portable Gaming - for play and multi-purpose applications including Internet access
   • Lock it up – keep it in a locker, even in your dorm room. Out of sight is a plus, locked is a preference.
4. Cell Phone - one complete with a camera phone or video capabilities. Get a good data plan. Communication is vital to social learning, and for families too.
   • Protect it - most people overlook this. You can password-protect your address book or other personal information & pictures. Consider a replacement policy if the phone is lost or stolen.

Via Westchester1 Tags: back to school, technology, school, education technology, kids technology

Education Week has published an article which indicates that Social Networking can have educational benefits. According to a survey commissioned by the National School Boards Association (NSBA), 50% of teens say they talk to their peers about schoolwork online (IM, blog or social networking sites) or via text message. A larger proportion (60%) indicate that they discuss education-related topics such as college and career planning. According to the survey, 96% of students with access to the Internet build social networks. That more than 50% of these students discuss education is promising for educators. NSBA says that Social Networking technologies should be adapted for use in the classroom.

“When it’s another generation’s technology, it’s easy to be uncomfortable with it and say we don’t need it,” said Ann Flynn, the NSBA’s director of educational technology. “We want to say to people, explore these things. Figure out what kinds of tools they are. By no means are we saying people shouldn’t be safe. But we also don’t want to see policies that are so restrictive that the unintended consequence is to keep the technology out of the hands of educators.”

The NSBA suggests setting up chat rooms or blogs where students can talk about, and collaborate on, schoolwork. They also suggest altering policies that ban or restrict the use of these sites while at school. The survey found that the reports of cyberbullying or online bullying could be out of proportion to the fear induced by it. Their report indicated that 7% of students surveyed said they were victims of cyberbullying – this is much less than the 32% indicated in a survey by PEW conducted earlier this summer. The NSBA survey also included a separate study on how districts use technology. 96% of the district leaders interviewed say that teachers assign homework via the Internet, and nearly half of the schools go online for collaborative projects with other schools. Currently, 80% of schools ban chat software, and more than 50% ban the use of social networking sites. This policy may be too restrictive. Social networking can be embraced for its “social” modes of learning, and with education on Internet safety, can be a valuable educational tool.

“One reason why many educators do not find the technologies ‘useful educational tools’ comes from the fact that the teaching paradigm that most teachers use—kids ‘being taught’ (mostly by lecture)—conflicts with these technologies,” he said in an e-mail. “If you are lecturing, they are mainly an interruption. The technologies become much more useful (and in fact necessary) once the paradigm shifts to ‘students teaching themselves’ (with guidance).”

Many analysts also believe that social networking sites will be key assets in future job interviews. Currently 10% of companies review social networking profiles as a part of the candidate review process – a number which will only increase. Education should stem around embracing social networking sites, and their uses for education, but also on what types of information students should and should not be posting online. Security should also be considered part of the education process – this report by CNET recently exposed the dangers of allowing “friends” access to your personal information. You can read the full NSBA report here [PDF]. Tags: social networking, social networking education, education technology, technology in the classroom, facebook, myspace, social learning

Absolute Software is now protecting even more laptops – signing two of its largest contracts to date.

These two contracts, totaling $1.2 million, support the corporate and education markets. One sale, to a U.S. school district, provides 5 years of protection with ComputraceComplete. This is the largest single customer order in Absolute Software’s history, and a milestone in protecting laptops in the education sector.

The second contract was an agreement to offer AbsoluteTrack, Absolute’s asset tracking solution to a company operating in the financial services sector.

John Livingston, Absolute’s Chairman and CEO, notes the significance of these contracts:

“We are particularly proud of these two milestone sales, as we believe they are indicative of an overall trend toward larger customer adoption of our solutions.”

Laptop thefts and data breaches have crippled many companies and sectors, and these two contracts show the growing recognition of the need for more stringent security measures.

Tags: absolute software, computrace, computrace complete, absolute track, laptop security, asset tracking

Cyberbullying is becoming more of a problem in the US. According to new research from the Pew Internet Project [PDF report link], one third (32%) of US online teenagers have been the victim of cyberbullying.

These attacks include receiving threatening messages; having their private emails or text messages forwarded without consent; having an embarrassing picture posted without permission; or having rumors about them spread online. When asked what form the cyberbullying took, the most common response was the sharing of private information (IMs, emails, etc) rather than direct threats.

Girls were more likely to be targets of cyberbullying than boys.

Teens who share their identities online are more vulnerable to cyberbullying.  Further, it was observed that there is a direct correlation between time spent online and cyberbullying. Additionally, the use of social networking sites has spurred greater cyberbullying. 39% of social network (Facebook, Myspace) users had been cyberbullied in some way, versus 22% of teens not using social networking sites.

Cyberbullying, unlike bullying in general, can expose a victim to hundreds or even thousands through an email, blog post or profile. Additionally, many cyberbullies use the web to embolden their actions, as they can “hide behind their monitor.”

Via the BBC ; Tags: cyberbullying, cyber bullying, bullying, cyberbully, cyber bully, social networking, teens online, online safety, bullying policy