EDUPAGE> Edupage, March 17, 2003
- From: Gleason Sackmann <gleason@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: K12Newsletters <k12newsletters@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 09:20:35 -0600
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From: EDUCAUSE@xxxxxxxxxxxx
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Sent: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 16:40:35 -0700
Subject: Edupage, March 17, 2003
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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR MONDAY, MARCH 17, 2003
Republican Criticizes Administration's Handling of Privacy
Growing Profits from Identity Theft
AND
UT Student Charged with Recent Theft of Personal Data
Spelling and Grammar Checkers Add Errors
Visit the Doctor on TV
REPUBLICAN CRITICIZES ADMINISTRATION'S HANDLING OF PRIVACY
Former Congressman Dick Armey accused George W. Bush and other
Congressional Republicans of disregarding citizens' right to privacy
in their efforts to increase national security. He said, "[P]eople in
the government, very much so in the Justice Department, have been
playing out a lust for our information that is not consistent with who
we have been as a nation and what our constitutional freedoms are."
Armey criticized the government's proposed data-mining programs and
other efforts to identify potential criminals and prevent crimes by
collecting and sharing information from various sources. He said the
notion that the collection of such data should not bother the innocent
is ridiculous. A spokesman from the Justice Department defended that
agency's use of expanded powers of surveillance, saying the agency
stays within the bounds of the law and that Congress still has
oversight for what is done.
IDG, 14 March 2003
http://www.idg.net/ic_1220478_9677_1-5041.html
GROWING PROFITS FROM IDENTITY THEFT
Computer-related identity theft represents only a small portion of all
cases of identity theft, but thieves are increasingly able to access
vast amounts of personal data as hacking incidents increase. Last
month, for example, hackers gained access to many millions of credit
card numbers, and a student at the University of Texas downloaded
personal information for more than 55,000 individuals. Most such hacks
do not result in identity theft, but those that do involve increasingly
larger losses. Two Japanese thieves stole more than $140,000 from
banking customers, and Thomas Pae, who led an international fraud
scheme, used stolen credit card numbers to buy almost $325,000 worth of
computer equipment. Security experts say many banks and other
institutions are reluctant to reveal security breaches, fearing the
information will scare away customers, and that the thefts are likely
to rise as more and more consumers use increasing amounts of personal
information for online transactions.
NewsFactor Network, 17 March 2003
http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/21019.html
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UT STUDENT CHARGED WITH RECENT THEFT OF PERSONAL DATA
A student at the University of Texas has admitted to the recent
break-in of the university's computer system in which records for more
than 55,000 students, faculty, and staff were accessed. Christopher
Andrew Phillips has been charged with unauthorized access to a
protected computer and using false identification with intent to commit
a federal offense, though Phillips said he had no intention of using
the information to commit any crime. Phillips wrote a program that used
randomly generated Social Security numbers to access university
systems. Dan Updegrove, UT's vice president for information
technology, said the incident highlights the need for universities to
use something other than Social Security numbers as student
identifiers. "It's something that all of us have to undo," he said.
Washington Post, 15 March 2003
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27370-2003Mar14.html
SPELLING AND GRAMMAR CHECKERS ADD ERRORS
In a study conducted at the University of Pittsburgh, computer spelling
and grammar checkers actually increased the number of errors for most
students. The study looked at the performance of two groups of
students: one with relatively high SAT verbal scores and one with
relatively lower scores. The group with lower SAT scores made an
average of 12.3 mistakes without the spelling and grammar tools turned
on and 17 mistakes with the tools. The students with higher SAT scores
made an average of 5 mistakes without the tools and an average of 16
errors with the tools. According to Dennis Galletta, a professor of
information systems at the Katz Business School, the problem is one of
behavior rather than of technology. Some students, he said, trust the
software too much. Richard Stern, a speech-recognition technology
researcher at Carnegie Mellon University, said that when computers
attempt to identify proper grammar, the computer has to make some
guesses. It becomes "a percentage game," he said.
Wired News, 14 March 2003
http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,58058,00.html
VISIT THE DOCTOR ON TV
Students at Ball State University in Indiana are testing a system that
allows them to have consultations with doctors from their dorm rooms.
The system, called iSee TV, was developed by U.K.-based Media Logic.
Using the system, students can talk to a health-care professional on
the telephone while seeing that person on a PC screen. The broadband
application allows doctors and nurses to use pictures or diagrams to
discuss or explain symptoms and the like with students. Benefits of the
system include greater hours of availability than clinics, not having
to get to the clinic (especially for sick students or when the weather
is inclement), and being able to discuss sensitive health matters, such
as alcohol- or sex-related issues, in a more comfortable setting.
BBC, 17 March 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/2846479.stm
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