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Article
8 Spots for Tightening Security
on Campus
1/21/2004
At the Rochester Institute of Technology, Barbour says the security issue that keeps her awake at night is unauthorized software running somewhere on campus that isn't under the central IT umbrella. "That's where I'm focusing most of my attention right now…. [Those systems] could be very vulnerable to hacking." One theoretical example: A specialized program set up by an individual faculty member on his or her computer, without the proper security clearance or configuration. To help with addressing the issue, RIT now has a full-time Information Security Officer who develops policies to help make sure systems are secure.
4. Stop Denial of Service Attacks
In its simplest form, a denial of service attack sends more data to your network than it can handle, thus overflowing the buffers and resulting in a loss of service to users. Most DoS attacks are malicious and intended to bring the network down, and though they typically don't destroy data, they can. Some recent viruses can be classified as denial of service attacks.
As with many things having to do with campus security, a college or university network may be especially susceptible to a DoS attack because of its openness. Versions of Microsoft Windows, by far the most popular operating systems for hacking, are especially vulnerable.
There are many ways to protect your network, from virus software to firewalls to how you configure your operating systems. For a primer on defeating denial-of-service attacks, you can start with this useful article from SANS, a well-respected security research, training and certification institute. The article contains instructions for administrators on, among other things, preventing your network from being used as a broadcast amplification site - an unwitting accomplice in a denial-of-service attack.
5. Sell Security to Management
Here's another challenge for all IT professionals, but that may be especially tough on campus because of tight funds: getting management on board for any security push. It's important that your school's top managers see security as the priority it is, and act accordingly - that is, that they allocate realistic funds for the software you need to lock down your systems, for education programs, and for adequate personnel.
Management responds to numbers, so putting together estimates on what security breaches are costing the school in terms of down time, hours spent by your staff repairing the damage, and so forth, can be effective. Damage to the school's reputation can also be a warning point; many large-scale cyber-attacks have made ample use of university computers.
For Susan Monsen, director of IT services at Yale University's Law School, lack of resources is definitely an issue. Her biggest challenge: Dealing with compromised student laptops on the network. "We don't have a way to scan and remove viruses" automatically system-wide yet, she says. "That's something we're working on." Regarding security in general, she says, "There are good tools out there, but they're very expensive."
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