OCR Text |
Show Wednesday, June 24, 1998 The Summer Weekly Chronicle - 7 0 The Summer Weekly Chronicle ID N ON Chronicle Editorial Bad Cyber Security and Bizarre Delays Hurt U I Ihe University of Utah has something of yours. Your iden-J-L tity. Or, in other words, your social security number. What an important little number. R is your permission to work in the United States. For most students, it also happens to be your student number. " It's also the number by which your credit card company certifies that you really are you The problem for 23,000 of you is that your identity isn't just in the supposedly trustworthy hands of the U, but in the grubby mitts of a computer robber. Since April 1, he or she has possessed your names, addresses and social security numbers. A hacker broke into one of the U's computer networks, and found, lying out in the open as it were, an electron ic stack of profitable personal details. The litany of ineptitude is long. 1) Apparently, not enough security is in place to keep our records safe. . 2) U network administrators had not encrypted the sensitive files. 3) Checks for such breaches are ineffective or hardly happen. The Academic Computing and Library Information Services office found out about the break-i- n May 27, nearly two months after the fact. 4) Secrecy leads to even more risk ? for the students, faculty and staff whose numbers were stolen. The ACLIS staff waited another two weeks before telling its superior. : 5) When ACLIS finally contacted its superior, the senior vice president of academic affairs, it was June 4. The vice president waited until June 8 to release the news. This was the first business day after the Chronicle stopped publishing for the school year. It is suspicious and irresponsible that these two supposedly trustworthy keepers of information delayed the hews nearly three weeks, long enough to release it only to main-streanewspapers whose audiences are mainly The data had already been in criminal hands for nearly two months. What's to keep other valuable information from being compromised, especially with the new conversion of virtually every records database to one system? For many of you, the U knows how much you and your parents make, where you are during the day, what car you drive, what grades you get and more. Unless the threat is taken more seriously and potential victims treat? ed with more respect, you wont know who else knows that much about you. m non-studen- ts. Letters to the Editor Unlike PC, Mac Ready for 3000 Editor: is the summer version of The Daily Utah Chronicle, an independent newspaper which has been produced by students at the University of Utah since 1890. Unsigned editorials reflect the majority opinion of the Chronicle Editorial Board. Editorial columns and letters to the editor present the opinions of the author, not the Chronicle or its staff, the University of Utah or its student body. "Letters to the Editor" is an open forum. Letters of a libelous nature, or those which demean or threaten any individual or group because of race, gender, sexual orientation, or religion will not be considered. Letters may be edited for style or space but the meaning and voice of letters will not be changed. One's name and phone number must be submitted with or drop them off at Union 240. letters to editorchronicle.utah.edu every letter for verification purposes. The Summer Weekly Chronicle It was interesting to see the article in the Chronicle some time ago discussing the U's plan to bring its computers into year 2000 compliance. It is ironic that the cost will be approximately $17 million, since the U was supposedly nearly all Macintosh-base- d once. All Macs are already compliant to at least 2019; an update will allow dates from approximately 30,000 BC to 29,997 AD (especially nice for research)! Foolishly, those in charge of computers listened to the FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) emanating from Redmond, Wash., and bought into the 'PC is better' fallacy. Now it's going to cost us to the tune of $17 mil. To add salt to the wound, you might be interested to know that PowerMacs are up to 50 faster than PCs, more stable, more secure, support all major networking protocols, and are easier to use. Also, even current versions of Windows are not fully 2000 compliant. Bottom Line argument?: A ROI (return on investment) for a Mac user is 7.14, while a Windows user is only 2.12! And, TCO (total cost of ownership) over 5 years is about 16 that of a Windows-base- d PC. Further, investigations are pro- ceeding into Microsoft's monopoly position and its illegal business practices. What a company to have bought into, eh? Ouch! Sincc'you (the U) are spending $17 mil., you might as well buy all of Macs, SGIs, and Suns which are better solutions than 'Wintel.' Dave AHigood Sandy, Utah Among Others, Big Brother is Watching seems to be more like the set of a TV show. Some have chosen to make their AM fleeting lives into entertainment not even worthy of Fox or the "dubba, dubba" WB. These have I Shawn Parker Bailey Chronicle bpinion Editor This summer's hit movie "The Show" made me and think at the same time. This guy Truman doesn't lead his own life. His life is the highest-rate- d, television show in the world. Any one of 5,000 different video cameras longest-runnin- g record every move he makes twenty-four hours a day. Yet he doesn't know he's being watched! The difference between our lives and Truman's is that we know we're being watched and still our ratings are limited to security guards mon- itoring surveillance cameras and the few who actually watch "Real World" on MTV. Perhaps in Shakespeare's day all the world was a stage. These days, whether we like it or not, the world found a sure-fir- e way to capitalize on their exhibitionistic (or at least narcissistic) ten- dencies. There are now web sites which relay live hours footage twenty-fou- r a day from the inside of real people's apartments. Jennifer Ringely installed a webcam in her room two years ago. Since then, every extremely It's far more stupid than profound. Andy Warhol would be Judging by this standard, the moments which don't air must be talk of government satellites that can see and film anyone in any proud. Trying to live up to the legacy of Andy Warhol is my idea of aiming very low. Beyond the world of virtual horrendously shallow and open space. Many law enforcement agencies arc using surveillance cameras to " (counterfeit) entertainment are I take solace in the hope that the "Real World" stars are playing up to their audience. Perhaps if the show aired on PBS, they would become slightly more interesting andor intelli- : Perhaps in gent. Shakespeare's day all the world was a stage. These days, whether we like it or not, the world seems to be more like the set of a TV show. banal and private domestic moment of her life could have been viewed via the net. When Ana Voog saw "Jenicam" for the first time she knew her life as struggling artist was over. In a recent Newsweek article she commented about her web site: "It's performance art in an Andy Warhol way. It's profound because it raises a lot of questions about privacy, and porn vs. art. But it's stupid because it's just me laying on the couch." unstimu-latin- g. e television shows like MTV's "Real World." Each season, this show puts together a group of unlikely roommates and records their lives together. installApparently the half-homents which air are highlights. real-lif- ur The question is who hits these web sites? Who watches these shows? Aren't their lives real enough? Isn't sleeping, eating and flossing enough? Why watch others sleep, eat and floss? Why is there a demand for this stuff? Why are people willing to fill this demand? Perhaps these sites and shows serve as substitutes for interaction, closeness and connection with other people. With all this surveillance technology becoming a source of entertainment, one might, wonder about how surveillance technology is being used for security purposes. In the past years, there has been control traffic both automobile and drug. Many private businesses rely heavily on surveillance technology to control both clients and employees. So who is watching us? Can we trust government officials and business owners? When does their right to maintain security end and our right to privacy begin? Is there an entertainment value to all this footage being filmed? Who owns the rights to this stuff? Can we demand payment? It's strange. Surveillance entertainment has become a substitute for human closeness while actual surveillance has given too much power to certain individuals. A terrible irony of "The Truman Show" is presented when the millions of viewers of the show are cheering for his escape from the set. He wouldn't Be there at all if they weren't watching! A more terrible irony is that if Truman escapes he will enter the real world where entertainment has become surveillance and surveillance entertainment. |