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October 23, 2004

Hackers attack two universities

Just when you thought it was safe to head into that campus computer lab...

Yesterday Purdue University in Indiana and Nipissing University in North Bay both reported they'd been stung by hackers. The Nipissing attack involved the installation of a key-stroke logger, often used to steal users' passwords and credit card numbers, but can also help the hacker acquire email addresses for spam or even that term paper you in which you explained the merits of supply-side economics.

Purdue, on the other hand, has been nailed by someone looking for off-site storage of their (likely illegally acquired - can you say Kazza?) copyrighted digital media.

Both Universities are asking students to change their passwords and to check their records to ensure their personal information has not been used for any nefarious purpose.

All of this serves as a reminder that large computer networks are more challenging to secure. Universities have some of the largest networks of any kind of organization and much of the network is essentially public. So, be careful.

Posted by maxthecat on October 23, 2004 at 05:12 AM | Printer-friendly version
Filed in: Science and Technology

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