Data Security is Top Tech Issue for Colleges

A new survey says security and privacy are the number one technology concerns for the nation’s colleges and universities. Are data breaches becoming an epidemic in our higher learning institutes?

USA Today’s Marisol Bello says Washington, DC-based Educause surveyed 535 colleges and universities, and found that data security incidents have been “epidemic” in the past few years.

“Data security incidents have been epidemic in the last two to three years and not just at colleges and universities,” Rodney Petersen, Educause’s security task force coordinator, told Bello. “It’s a significant problem and source of concern.”

Bello points to the most recent college breach at Harvard in February as an example. A hacker broke into a Web server at the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences that contained personal information on 10,000 grad-school applicants. The information ranged from Social Security numbers and addresses to food allergies and housing preferences.

In 2007, there were 139 reported information security incidents at colleges and universities around the world, a 68 percent increase from the previous year, according to a report by Educational Security Incidents. Bello says incidents range from stolen laptops containing student and employee data to breaches of the schools’ network systems.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/
2008-03-19-harvard_N.htm