Identity theft
Are we at risk? After last week’s attack on personal information at UIndy, we can’t be so sure.
By Crystal Abrell
Opinion Editor
As we all know, students and faculty were informed at 2:39 p.m. by email from the university President Beverley Pitts that UIndy was a victim of a cyber attack.
We were told the basics, or the played down basics, of this attack.
Everyone was informed that “information could have been compromised,” but the information was relayed in a manner that seemed to minimize the situation.
We were told that archived files, including social security numbers were stolen. We were also informed the attack appeared to be done by a professional which was beyond the university’s control.
The number of archived files stolen was said to be 11,000. That is a huge number when we are referring to a university that has only 4,300 students.
The email went on to explain that universities are particularly vulnerable to these types of attacks, which to me just sounded like it was an excuse to cover up an accident that should not have happened in the first place.
In the email it stated that when informed of this attack “they moved swiftly to close all access,” but I believe all access be closed to begin with.
A paid credit report for a year is offered to all individuals whose information was compromised, but who is to say whose information was or was not compromised.
How can we be sure our information is safe? A free credit report for a year? What about my credit for the rest of my life?
Who is to say that my information won’t be floating out there in cyberspace for longer than just a year?
These are all questions students are left asking, and need to be answered.
The email was written and nothing else was said about the attack, even though the Indianapolis Star published a story covering the topic on the front page.
Front page of the newspaper in bold print, obviously the issue was more important than the university portrayed it to be.
The Star enlisted more information about the attack than the personal email did to students and faculty affected.
According to the Sept. 30 article in the Indy Star, “UIndy was informed of this attack Sept. 18.”
Wait, I don’t understand why are we just now hearing about this almost two weeks later.
For a university that we are paying over $20,000 a semester to go to, I think we should be informed.
The university made it seem as if the attack was ‘beyond our control,’ but if it is out of UIndy’s control or our Information Systems department’s control, then whose control is it under?
To such a prestigious university I believe that more blame should have been taken. Is it possible our university’s lack of stepping up and taking blame could portray our university as less credible?
When trying to get faculty to comment on their thoughts about their identity being safe or not, strangely enough all faculty replied with no comment.
It seems as if faculty was told to not express or speak their opinions on this topic.
As a campus newspaper I feel opinions should be expressed by the faculty as well, not just the student body.
To my understanding, an incident happened a couple years ago where information was released on the web listing social security numbers, but it was on a site where only faculty could see it.
If something like this has happened already, but obviously the incident was minor, such a huge mistake like this should not have happened at all.
It just seemed as if this incident could have been completely preventable and silly mistakes like this should not have been made.
Maybe instead of improving our “efforts to protect the sensitive information entrusted to us,” we should use more diligence in our university’s IT processes.
If we just push blame elsewhere and refer to this as an accident and us as a victim, than we are not truly treating the problem and simply excusing it.
It should not be acceptable and not out of our control.
When releasing and entrusting this type of information in my university, all I have to say, and I believe I speak for many students at UIndy, get it under control!
I am sure as a student already in enough debt for two lifetimes this is the last thing we want to worry about.
I understand that accidents do happen, but lets make sure next time that it is “just an accident” that is truly and fully out of our university’s control.
