Hoya Staff Writer Friday, September 8, 2006
In an effort to tighten Internet security around campus, University Information Services is developing a wireless network with enhanced security features that it plans to unveil later this semester. UIS Director Beth Ann Bergsmark said that the new network, SaxaNet, will be more secure than HOYAS, the current university wireless network. Users will be required to enter a Net ID and password to access SaxaNet, whereas HOYAS is open to all. “When you’re connecting with HOYAS, someone could sit next to you and grab information,” Bergsmark said. Many of the security features will be confined to people with NetIDs. Other users will be able to access a parallel service, GuestNet, but will not have access to university servers, such as GUMail and StudentAccess+, or receive streaming video. Bergman said UIS will unveil the new network by early November. The current wireless network excludes most residential areas. Bergsmark said UIS is not expecting to expand wireless coverage to additional areas at this time due to a lack of resources. The university typically adds wireless access to buildings undergoing construction or significant renovation, such as the Southwest Quadrangle and New South Hall, Bergsmark said. Accessing the HOYAS network though her laptop in Sellinger Lounge, Katherine Pitsch (GRD ’07) said that the changes may not be necessary. “Based on what I do on the Internet, I don’t feel at risk,” Pitsch said. “I take my own precautions.”I don’t think it’s a bad idea,” she said of the new wireless network. Pitsch’s precautions are examples of what Bergsmark said is an encouraging increase around campus in the use of programs that block spy-ware and ad-ware which can steal sensitive personal information while a computer is connected to the Internet. It is hoped that the trend will further assist her office’s efforts to make the Hilltop more secure for wireless users. She added that, while problems with spy-ware and ad-ware account for a majority of the individual cases reported to UIS, there have been fewer cases than usual reported so far this semester. “This year is looking better than last year in terms of infection,” she said, cautioning that it may be too early to tell if the trend will continue. In addition to enhancing online security, another UIS initiative is looking to expand the usage of “social software” on campus to increase the use of blogs, podcasts, “sharestream” learning, and other means of information-sharing within the campus community. Bergsmark said that the impetus for the expansion of these programs did not come from faculty members, who often lag behind their pupils in terms of eagerness to explore new Internet technologies. “A lot of interest is on the students’ side,” she said.