The Rice Thresher, Vol. 97, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 2, 2009 Page: 4 of 20
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the Rice Thresher
Friday, October2,2009
IT encourages cyber security
□RESEARCH
by LaWanda Turner
For the Thresher
Phishers beware: This October
marks the sixth-annual National Cy-
ber Security Awareness Month, an
initiative started by the Department of
Homeland Security's National Cyber
Security Division.
This is the fourth year Rice has par-
ticipated in this event, which includes
weekly discussions led by guest speak-
ers at the residential colleges.
According to the Department of
Homeland Security's Web site, the
program aims to "actively engage
public and private sector partners
through events and initiatives to
increase overall awareness and
minimize vulnerabilities." This
year's theme is "2009: The Year of
The Phish."
Manager of Information Technol-
ogy Carlyn Chatfield said this theme
reflects threats facing Internet users
in recent months. She said phish-
ing scams at Rice became especially
prevalent last year.
Information Security Officer Marc
Scarborough said as the number of
electronically-completed communica-
tions, projects and financial transac-
tions increases, so does cyber crime.
"Phishing is only one type of crime
that has affected an overwhelming
number of students, but there are other
threats out there," Scarborough said.
When describing the goal of this
year's campaign. Chatfield com-
pared Internet security to driving on
a highway.
"We want to show people how to
look out for dangerous drivers and
keep themselves safe," Chatfield
said. "We want the public to know
why people ask for their personal
information and how to respond to
the inquiries."
Scarborough said information is the
best way to promote cyber security.
"The best tool is knowledge,"
Scarborough said. "Rice's net-
work is very open; therefore, we
must take measures to ensure us-
ers' safety. Unlike in the corporate
world, users of the Rice network
are unrestricted and may be vul-
nerable to threats."
NCSAM
SPEAKERS
Upcoming events in the
lunchtime speakers series:
■ Oct. 7: Rice Parents of
Teens: "Security vs. Privacy
at Home."
■ Oct. 13- Marc Scarborough:
"Password Management for
School, Work and Personal
Accounts."
■ Oct. 22: Speaker TBD:
"Identity Theft: Prevention
and Recovery."
■ Oct. 30: Houston Police
Department's Forgery Unit:
"Credit Card Theft: Preven-
tion, Monitoring and Recov-
ery."
Martel College senior Rodrigo
Flores said he appreciates IT's at-
tempt to reach out to students.
"Even though 1 am computer
literate, I know that some people
are not and the information that
they will receive is valuable,"
Flores said.
Some students remain skeptical
about the added efforts.
"I don't think that [the speeches]
would be much help," Martel fresh-
man David Howard said. "When peo-
ple fall for cyber scams that are as sim-
ple as asking for your bank account
statement, then it's their fault."
Scarborough said there is a wide
variety of threats to someone's on-
line security. Popular cybercrimes
include phishing attempts — for ex-
ample, a fake bank message asking
the recipient for personal informa-
tion or requests for ransom — death
threats and links in e-mails which,
once clicked, download viruses to an
unsuspecting user's computer.
"My job is to protect resources, so,
please, don't give out your personal in-
formation online," Scarborough said.
Chatfield also warned that an
e-mail from a non-Rice address claim-
ing to be Rice personnel was a red flag.
Chatfield said another major
goal of this year's events was to in-
crease student participation and to
generate awareness.
"Students are more likely to re-
spond to images of peers," she said.
For this reason, IT is continu-
ing to use life-size cutouts of
theater students posing as cyber
criminals and victims to advertise
in the Thresher and on posters
around campus.
"It was a big success when we
did if last year, so 1 want to con-
tinue to include students," Chat-
field said.
Students can also participate
in the annual poster contest spon-
sored by the ResearchChannel,
which promotes awareness about
cyber security. Interested students
may visit http://www.research-
channel.0rg/securityvide02009/
for details.
FROM PAGE 1
that many of the institutions ranked
similarly to Rice had more faculty,
which meant that they could more
easily submit a greater number of
proposals.
"If you were to compare Rice to
Emory University, for example, Emory
has a medical school and about 80
percent of the funding that comes
in comes from the medical school in
terms of sponsored research," White
said. "It's very hard to get apples-to-
apples comparisons."
Coleman said funding for spon-
sored projects was not beneficial
just to faculty, as it also affects
undergraduates by giving them
more research projects to work
on and paying for equipment for
their training.
"We're enhancing the intellectual
environment at Rice," Coleman said.
"It's one of the reasons we care so
much about research."
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Michel, Casey. The Rice Thresher, Vol. 97, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 2, 2009, newspaper, October 2, 2009; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth443164/m1/4/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.