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8 Spots for Tightening Security on Campus
2/2/2004
Setting record-retention policies, never easy, has become even more difficult. According to Fred Beshears, senior strategist at Educational Technology Services at the University of California-Berkeley, FERPA, an older government mandate to protect student records, conflicts with the Patriot Act, which allows for governmental access to student records in some cases. In short, Beshears says, "You get into all these gnarly problems on [privacy]."
For an in-depth discussion of the conflicts of privacy and security on today's campus, and some insights into the issue, read the in-depth discussion by Kent Wada, information technology security and policy coordinator at the University of California-Los Angeles.
Among other things, Wada notes that in the face of the Patriot Act and other legislation, security concerns regarding e-mail become more difficult than ever and probably need to be reviewed and reassessed. "The balancing act is to keep relevant data only as long as it is legitimately needed, and no longer, lest it become a liability."
"The balancing act is to keep relevant data only as long as it is legitimately needed, and no longer, lest it become a liability."
He notes that this same balancing act applies in other areas of data as well:
"This is also true for electronic records of another sort: computer transaction
logs. Web servers, e-mail servers, and other network devices all automatically
note when services are used… Policies should be viewed in the larger records
management context rather than as a separate effort. "
8. Curb File Sharing
The still hugely popular practice of file sharing, particularly videos and music, via peer-to-peer software, remains an obvious Achilles heel.
As Wada notes in his article on campus security versus privacy, recording and motion picture industry executives are pushing schools to do more to curb illicit file sharing, thus turning up the heat on IT administrators. Not only is file sharing generally illegal, depending on what's being shared, but peer-to-peer networks, of course, are a huge security risk.
Many colleges and universities are fighting the file-sharing issue through
attempts at education on their Web sites. For example, the University of California
at Davis offers this article for students on legitimate music download sites
and options: http://technews.ucdavis.edu/news2.cfm?id=623.
Also, articles like this one on the University
of Wisconsin-Madison Web site , which clearly state that the recording industry
in now prosecuting individuals for file-sharing violations, are becoming more
common. And Penn State is modeling for students the good practice of staying
within the law by providing students with legal means to download
music files. As part of the education process, and to remind students of
the facts about file sharing, consider posting similar information and tools
on your own campus Web site or portal if you haven't already.
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