{"id":1566,"date":"2011-11-30T14:33:39","date_gmt":"2011-11-30T22:33:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/?p=1566"},"modified":"2011-11-30T14:33:39","modified_gmt":"2011-11-30T22:33:39","slug":"log-off-or-look-out-warns-camosun","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/2011\/11\/30\/log-off-or-look-out-warns-camosun\/","title":{"rendered":"Log off or look out, warns Camosun"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recent security breach that took place at on-campus computer labs has Camosun warning students about their computer usage habits and considering new measures to ensure workstations are logged off properly.<\/p>\n

It was recently brought to the attention of Camosun security that an individual has been gaining internet access through student accounts and bragging online about how he or she was able to do so.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone who is not a student here is walking in and basically stealing somebody\u2019s account for their own purposes,\u201d says Ian McLeod, head of the information technology department.<\/p>\n

In light of the incident, reminders have been circulated and notices posted to emphasize the importance of logging off.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A security alert is on at Camosun (photo by Carol-Lynne Michaels).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Although the college has no way of knowing if the perpetrator went beyond simply stealing internet access, McLeod warns that students need to be vigilant about protecting their accounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents are putting their own accounts at risk anytime they walk away from a computer and don\u2019t log off,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

McLeod is of the opinion that \u201cthere\u2019s nothing dangerous about this particular situation,\u201d but he says that if students continue forgetting to log off, a system may be put in place to do it for them.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are things we need to do around forcing the accounts to log off after a certain amount of time,\u201d he says, admitting that students are often annoyed by an automatic log-off system.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a trade-off between convenience over security,\u201d says McLeod. \u201cThat trade-off we\u2019ve been relatively loose about because we haven\u2019t had problems. Now we\u2019re going to have to tighten up a little more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tim Henderson, head of Camosun security, thinks the need to protect students and the college outweighs the need for convenient access to the computer system.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow difficult is it to log back on if you get logged off, when you consider the potential damage to your personal reputation, the potential for losing access or having your access restricted?\u201d says Henderson. \u201cThis system is designed to protect the students and, beyond that, the college. It\u2019s really about protecting our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the concern from these departments, students seem unfazed by the bright green cards that declare a \u201csecurity alert.\u201d<\/p>\n

Olivia Kaehn, first-year university transfer student, says she first noticed the card when it was sitting at a computer that had been left logged on.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always turn my computer off when I\u2019m done using it,\u201d says Kaehn, but she admits that she often stays logged in at the library to secure her workspace.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I\u2019m working in the library and my computer is on,\u201d she says, \u201cI know someone knows that I\u2019m there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both McLeod and Henderson hope to find a solution that meets the needs of students and keeps everyone safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe college has to balance academic freedom with the need to protect our resource, which is our access to the internet,\u201d says Henderson. \u201cWithout that, we\u2019re knackered.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A recent security breach that took place at on-campus computer labs has Camosun warning students about their computer usage habits and considering new measures to ensure workstations are logged off properly. It was recently brought to the attention of Camosun security that an individual has been gaining internet access through student accounts and bragging online […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1566","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-november-30-2011"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1566"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1566\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1680,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1566\/revisions\/1680"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1566"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}