Discusses network denial-of-service attacks which have become a security threat to the Internet community and suggests the need for reliable authentication protocols in client-server applications. Presents a public-key based authentication and key establishment protocol coupled with a client puzzle protocol and validates it through formal logic…

Discusses issues related to computer security, including confidentiality, integrity, and authentication or availability; and presents a selected list of Web sites that cover the basic issues of computer security under subject headings that include ethics, privacy, kids, antivirus, policies, cryptography, operating system security, and biometrics.…

Discusses how colleges are struggling with an increasing number of attacks on their computer systems; as attacks increase, they face tough, expensive challenges in keeping intruders out. (EV)

As institutions review and strengthen their plans to secure confidential data, what proactive role does the human resource professional play as a strategic partner? Why are employees a critical part of the solution? And how are they educated regarding their responsibilities with data security? Datatel's HR product manager shares some…

The late 1980s was an exciting time to be a CIO in higher education. Computing was being decentralized as microcomputers replaced mainframes, networking was emerging, and the National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET) was introducing the concept of an "internet" to hundreds of thousands of new users. Security wasn't much of an issue;…

Information technology (IT) departments are ruled by a kind of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: The big-tech stuff--the operating systems, the networks, the data centers--gets the priority, food-and-shelter attention, while upgrading the backup power supplies, evaluating new projector mounts, and taming that rat's nest of classroom cords fall…

The widespread use of virtual classrooms, Internet exploration and chat rooms has stretched the concept of the schoolhouse while the popularity of social networking sites, blogging and text messaging have affected the way students communicate with and about each other, their teachers, school administrators, and their schools. Add to the mix…

The Internet has great difficulty coping with the sharp increase in mobile devices like cellphones and laptops, and handling bandwidth-hungry traffic such as video, now demanded by an increasing number of users. According to Ellen W. Zegura, chairwoman of computer sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Internet is like a big…

While it is important for accounting information systems (AIS) students to understand computer technology, internal controls and business processes, such knowledge is of little use without reference to appropriate contexts. Integrating Wall Street Journal (WSJ) readings and discussions into AIS classes can enrich learning by stimulating…

Blogs are a hot topic in academia. A search on "blog" in the "Chronicle of Education's" Web site returns nearly two hundred articles, covering such topics as the dangers an impolitic blog can do to an institution's leaders (Read, 2006) or the blogger's career (Tribble, 2005) and the mutual use of blogs by instructors to lambaste students (Lipka,…

With K-12 students seeming to, at all times, have one foot in the real world and one in the virtual, school districts are starting to acknowledge a new collective responsibility: to teach kids what it means to be a good digital citizen and how to go about being one. The movement to address and characterize digital citizenship originated in the UK,…

This article presents the top-ten IT-related issues in terms of strategic importance to the institution, as revealed by the tenth annual EDUCAUSE Current Issues Survey. These IT-related issues include: (1) Funding IT; (2) Administrative/ERP Information Systems; (3) Security; (4) Infrastructure/Cyberinfrastructure; (5) Teaching and Learning with…

Describes how academic lobbyists are trying to decide whether to back a proposed bill that might shield universities from getting sued for electronic piracy, or to fight for a better deal. (EV)

Like other technologies, the Internet is vulnerable to misuse by hostile individuals (flamers), sexual predators, and pornographers. Schools can shield students from these negative influences by using LinQ, a new product that restricts access to certain inappropriate Internet areas. Technology codes of conduct and staff development are alternative…

Examines some frequently encountered unsolicited computer intrusions, including computer viruses, worms, Java applications, trojan horses or vandals, e-mail spamming, hoaxes, and cookies. Also discusses virus-protection software, both for networks and for individual users. (LRW)