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Leading Edge University IT Resources Targeted in Massive Hack Attacks
Possibly connected attacks at several universities in recent weeks have
given hacker access to large networks and supercomputers. As many as
15-20 successful attacks were made at institutions including Stanford,
the University of San Diego, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,
and the University of Chicago. Typically, the attacks are on
sophisticated research networks and although severe damage could have
been caused, so far it has not.
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Colleges Leaking Confidential Data
And it's not just from hacking, a lot of it is from inadequately
trained employees or improperly protected software.
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The Gopher Isn't Dead
If you don't know what "gopher" is, then you may well not be
a baby boomer. Gopher was a protocol that fought, briefly,
with HTML, for dominance of the Internet. But it's not dead
yet.
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Turf Battle Between Bagel and Netsky
Throw MyDoom into the mix and the unholy trio has, some estimate, caused $85B
in lost productivity already in 2004. Now, the authors Bagel and Netsky are
in a "pathetic little battle" that makes users' time and dollars the collateral
damage.
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The Interplanetary Internet Grows in Importance
Utilizing something called "delay-tolerant" networking, NASA
and others have been working on plans to ensure Internet
connectivity throughout the solar system. A ".mars" domain
is a ways off yet, but some of the knowledge gained is
getting applied back on Earth.
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Not Everyone's Optimistic About the Blackboard IPO
Has Blackboard matured enough to go public? According to this in depth article,
while some praise the quality of the product and the brand Blackboard has established,
others decry the cost, and the company's lack of year-to-year profitability.
(free subscription required)
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Macintosh "Trojan Horse" Not a Threat?
The supposed Trojan horse is a benign proof of concept file
that d'es exploit an original Macintosh operating system
vulnerability. It d'esn't appear to be an immediate threat,
and many don't think it is ever likely to be.
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The FBI Wants a "Wiretap Friendly" Internet
And there a lots of software companies gearing up to help
large organizations (Like colleges and universities?) handle
subp'ena requests. For a fee, of course.
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Progress in War Against Spam Hit or Miss
The "killer app" is still being killed, and seems powerless to help it. It's
like watching a slow-motion murder. (free subscription required)
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Students at Chinese a University Celebrate Computer-Free Day
Well, it was a weekend day - a Saturday - but it was reported
as bring a refreshing experience.
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Optimistic About P-to-P "News" Networks?
Using Peer-to-Peer for sharing news stories is an idea gaining
a lot of coverage lately, but there are a few issues.
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Google Searches Focused on Academic Papers at MIT
A pilot test is underway now at 17 institutions, to see if a
new Google feature offering a search of academic, scholarly
literature is a possible and useful option.
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Ivory Towers Take Up Arms Against Hacks
Focusing on Boston College and UMass, this article examines
the special issues institutions face with student hackers,
as opposed to commercial corporations who are dealing with
employees.
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Higher Ed Coalition Opposes Extending Wiretap Law to Internet Providers
Current wiretapping laws, known as CALEA, are written for traditional telecommunications.
The FCC wants to extend them to broadband, and now a new coalition of higher
education and library associations has been created to oppose that extension.
(PDF)
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