Many people who are familiar with network security know that universities are known to have some of the weakest security architectures.  Unfortunately, this is known by the majority of hackers (well, probably everyone except script kiddies) which is why they are constantly looking for ways to extract those tens and hundreds of thousands of social security numbers.  Heck, one university could actually have SSN’s in the millions due to alumni and faculty.  Coming from a personal standpoint, even though I received my degree, this is one thing that has always kept me paranoid about my university…

For digital thieves, college computer systems are like cabinets filled with usable information. And would-be hackers can be relentless in their attempts to reach it.

Within 10 hours on Jan. 9 — midnight to 10 a.m. — computer hackers lurking in cyberspace scanned Virginia Tech’s computer networks 15,000 times, looking for a way to reach information, such as credit card or Social Security numbers, contained in some of the cabinet’s drawers.

That keeps people such as Randy Marchany busy, competing a fast- paced race colleges run with hackers — some tied to organized crime — to safeguard information.

Many are falling behind.

As director of Tech’s information security lab, Marchany spends his time monitoring the university’s vast computer networks, hunting for potential break-ins, updating software, patching system holes and educating people about the best ways to protect their information online.[more]

Tags: Hackers