Temple getting tough

[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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