Students and faculty at the Vermont State Colleges System were none too pleased when they learned administrators had taken three weeks to notify them about a possible network security breach. (A laptop belonging to an information-technology employee was stolen late in February, and system officials admit that the machine may store payroll information and Social Security numbers.)
Last week, someone found a thematically appropriate way to protest the administrators’ delayed disclosure. A hacker broke into the e-mail account of Stephen C. Allen, administrator of Lyndon State College’s computer network, and sent a campuswide message lampooning Mr. Allen’s job performance:
Hello, and good-day. My name is Identity Theft Victim, Stephen C. Allen — LSC LAN/System Administrator. This email is being sent because I chose not to change my default e-mail password, allowing my account to be hijacked through simple methods. Recently 20,000+ VSC student, alumni, faculty and staff identities were compromised through the theft of a stolen VSC laptop. (Rutland Herald)
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