Fwd: [ISN] Temple getting tough

["H. Morrow Long" <morrow.long () YALE EDU>]

Begin forwarded message:
> From: InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>
> Date: Wed Oct 22, 2003  4:09:18 AM America/New_York
> To: isn () attrition org
> Subject: [ISN] Temple getting tough
> Reply-To: InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>
>
> Forwarded from: William Knowles <wk () c4i org>
>
> http://napps.nwfusion.com/weblogs/security/003634.html
>
> By Ellen Messmer
> Network World Fusion
> 10/20/03
>
> Universities are naturally more free-wheeling places than the
> corporate environment, with the collegiate "live and let live"
> attitude making IT campus administrators reluctant to press for
> mandatory security controls on student computers.
>
> Students, after all, are paying customers, not employees getting a
> paycheck, and the idea of forcing students -- who often own their own
> laptops -- to do anything in particular is often seen as quixotic.
>
> But with the waves of computer worms --Blaster, SQL Slammer, Welchia,
> and so forth--disrupting college campus networks, IT administrators
> show signs they're ready to take a different tact. Some are making it
> mandatory for students to run corporate-style anti-virus software on
> their personal computers. Temple University's chief information
> security officer, Ariel Silverstone, recently discussed how his
> university is going to do just that.
>
> "We're going to make anti-virus software free but mandatory for anyone
> who gets an IP address from us, whether employee, faculty or student,"
> said Silverstone. "You have to get an IP address to get connected to
> the campus. Now, the main goal is to protect the servers and
> computers." He reckons the university has about 14,000 IP-based
> devices attached to its network.
>
> The impetus to make anti-virus software mandatory for students along
> with others on campus stems from the fact that 50% of all security
> incidents on campus are related to computer viruses and worms,
> Silverstone said.
>
> "Machines are compromised and shut down by this," he said. The cost to
> de-bug machines and cope with service calls from viruses is
> skyrocketing. That's one reason the IT staff has gotten the backing
> from the campus administration to support the cost of providing free
> software to students and requiring them to use it.
>
> Silverstone, who said his previous job was working as a global
> business manager at KPMG, said he prepared a product checklist as he
> began the contract negotiation process with about eight vendors. After
> a competitive procurement process, Temple ended up selecting the
> Symantec anti-virus suite in a contest where Network Associates and
> Trend Micro were narrowly edged out in a final review.
>
> "Cost was decidedly not a factor," Silverstone noted, pointing out
> that several other factors, such as the automated update capability
> and technical and helpdesk support, were important in completing the
> negotiations for the three-year contract.

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