This paper sought to establish the extent to which users' legitimate rights are safeguarded in Learning Management Systems (LMS); specifically, on the Blackboard system used for teaching at Sorbonne University, Abu Dhabi (SUAD). First, the users' legitimate rights that required protection were identified. Second, the security and privacy…

In 2021, EDUCAUSE is publishing a second edition of the "Horizon Report." With this inaugural issue of the Information Security edition of the "Horizon Report," EDUCAUSE has sought to expand their series of Teaching and Learning "Horizon Reports" to focus on a new area of critical importance to the future of higher…

Data breach prevention is a battle, rarely plain and never simple. For higher education institutions, the Sisyphean aspects of the task are more complex than for industry and business. Two-year colleges have payrolls and vendor contracts like those enterprises. They also have public record and student confidentiality requirements. Colleges must…

Why is Information Privacy the focus of the January-February 2013 issue of "EDUCAUSE Review" and "EDUCAUSE Review Online"? Results from the 2012 annual survey of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) indicate that "meeting regulatory compliance requirements continues to be the top perceived driver…

Where does privacy belong in the college/university ecosystem, and what should its relationship be with security and compliance? Are the three areas best kept separate and distinct? Should there be some overlap? Or would a single office, officer, and/or reporting line enable a big picture of the whole? This article examines several of the campus…

At least 18 colleges are scrambling to inform tens of thousands of students that they are at risk of having their identities stolen after SunGard, a leading software vendor, reported that a laptop owned by one of its consultants was stolen. The extent of the problem is still unknown, though many of the campuses that have been identified are in…

Patrick A. Grant was stolen in April. A thief walked away with a laptop containing the University of Virginia biochemist's name and Social Security number, as well as those of more than 7,000 other professors, staff members, and students. The machine belonged to a university employee who had taken it off campus--and then it was simply taken. The…

Colleges capture a slew of highly sensitive information on everyone on campus. While chief privacy officer has become a recognized title in the corporate world, higher education seems slow to pick up on the trend--a reluctance that could represent either head-in-the-sand thinking or fiscally prudent avoidance of bureaucratic bloat. This article…

The increased number of government-mandated and private contractual information security requirements in recent years has caused higher education security professionals to view information security as another aspect of regulatory or contractual compliance. The existence of fines, penalties, or loss (including bad publicity) has also increased the…

Another topic involving privacy has attracted considerable attention in recent months--the "student unit record" issue. The U.S. Department of Education concluded in March that it would be feasible to help address lawmakers' concerns about accountability in higher education by constructing a database capable of tracking students from institution…

For years computer viruses have threatened productive use of personal computers, challenging users and support providers to prevent and recover from viral attacks. Now another type of computing malady has begun to enter popular consciousness: spyware. Typically, analyses of spyware focus on technical issues or provide pointers to resources for…