Consensus: Decentralized IT Led to Boulder Hack

The University of Colorado at Boulder reported that a hacker May 12 exposed about 45,000 students' names and Social Security numbers. The incident affected students enrolled at any time from 2002 to the present, the school said.

The hacked server was in the College of Arts and Sciences' academic advising center. Dan Jones, director of the Campus IT Security Office, told the Denver Post that the center's firewall was turned off, and a patch was not properly installed on the system's anti-virus program.

School administrators said they would cut their practice of distributing IT responsibilities among colleges, schools, departments, and programs and assigned the school's central information technology department to take over the IT management of the center.

University officials also told the Post they do not believe the hacker targeted students' personal information. "It looked like someone was trying to seize control of the machine and not the data,"' a school spokesman told the newspaper. "And in the process of that, the data was exposed. But we're erring on the side of caution."

Read More:

About the Author

Paul McCloskey is contributing editor of Syllabus.

Featured

  • two businessmen shaking hands

    What I Learned Working with an OPM

    At a time when higher education is being asked to do more with less, online program management partnerships can be the difference between simply surviving and truly thriving.

  • glowing digital brain above a chessboard with data charts and flowcharts

    Why AI Strategy Matters (and Why Not Having One Is Risky)

    If your institution hasn't started developing an AI strategy, you are likely putting yourself and your stakeholders at risk, particularly when it comes to ethical use, responsible pedagogical and data practices, and innovative exploration.

  • closeup of hands on laptop with various technology icons

    Microsoft Intros New AI-Powered Teaching and Learning Tools

    Microsoft has unveiled a number of updates bringing AI-powered experiences to teaching and learning. New features include a "Teach" AI tool for Copilot, a "Study and Learn" AI agent, and more.

  • magnifying glass highlighting a human profile silhouette, set over a collage of framed icons including landscapes, charts, and education symbols

    AWS, DeepBrain AI Launch AI-Generated Multimedia Content Detector

    Amazon Web Services (AWS) and DeepBrain AI have introduced AI Detector, an enterprise-grade solution designed to identify and manage AI-generated content across multiple media types. The collaboration targets organizations in government, finance, media, law, and education sectors that need to validate content authenticity at scale.