LIS hacks down on security problems

Author: Derek Matus

The inbox of a Middlebury College student is - more often than not -flooded with the same piles of new messages. After sifting and sorting, it is rare to end up reading more than about a quarter of what was supposed to interest the recipient. Although occasionally annoying, e-mail has become a necessity of college life. How else could a professor warn the students he cancelled class to go to some lecture or various clubs alert their members to upcoming sit-ins, charity drives, or Shabbats?

"[E-mail] wasn't that important to me before I came [to college], I now check it an average of 20 times a day, maybe more," Giulia Scelzo '12 commented. "It's extremely necessary in my college life."

However, as increasing numbers of people rely on e-mail to conduct their daily lives, incidents of e-mail fraud have followed proportionately.

To prevent hacking, Middlebury Library and Information Services has tried to beef up the security of college e-mail. Because longer and more complicated passwords are much more difficult than single, simple words for computers and hackers to guess, some of the biggest changes instituted were to the password requirements. Whereas last year e-mail passwords had to be at least six characters including a number and a letter, this year there must be eight characters and contain at least one digit, upper-case letter, lower-case letter, and special character. Also, students must now change their password every six months. While these changes greatly increase the password safety of Middlebury accounts, there are many other ways hackers can glean personal information.

The LIS Helpdesk can help users avoid these traps.

One technician commented: "I've heard the analogy that sending an e-mail is just like sending a postcard through the mail, you can never be sure that someone won't read or take the information."

For example, Helpdesk technician Derek Campbell '11 advised that in light of recent outside attempts to hack into college accounts, the best advice is not to give out your username or password in an e-mail.

"The help desk will never ask you for it." Campbell added.

Also, avoid using the same password for different accounts - if one is hacked, another could be just as easily. Whenever using a public computer, always remember to log out; the technology services stress that this is one of the biggest mistakes users make and one of the easiest for would-be hackers to take advantage. If you avoid making stupid mistakes you can avoid the frustrating process of apologizing to all of your contacts when they receive junk mail from your hacked e-mail.

While security has become a serious issue with some of the biggest e-mail providers, they have still been able to keep users coming with innovative, new features.

Gmail, for example, has greatly increased the number of account services. Your Gmail account can now keep your schedule with an updated calendar application, integrate your AIM buddy lists, hold attachments up to 20mb, contact groups of people, and even receive voicemail. With the advanced technology of the most recent cellular and mobile devices, you can even check your e-mail accounts and features on blackberries and iphones.

While security problems may be a slight glitch in the system, e-mail is still set to maintain its importance in modern, daily life.