A team of computer scientists at Dartmouth College will launch a project in July to study campus wireless computer traffic to determine how to best maintain the security of Wi-Fi networks, the college announced yesterday.
Wi-Fi is becoming more common on campuses. The team, led by computer-science professor David Kotz, hopes that this “real world test” will let them quickly pinpoint malicious activity patterns that would indicate security breaches such as unauthorized access points to the network. The Dartmouth team will also try to determine the best way to eliminate these threats.
“Sometimes faculty and students install their own access points in their offices or rooms for convenience, and these rogue access points can become a hole through the firewall, allowing outsiders easier access to the network,” Mr. Kotz said.
The project, dubbed Dartmouth Internet Security Testbed, started with the installation of wireless monitors in several locations on campus in December.
When the devices are switched on next month, the researchers will post signs informing students and faculty of the project, and they will ensure the privacy of all campus network users is protected by replacing the identity of each wireless device by a random identifier.
This research is being financed by the Department of Homeland Security, and the scientists aim to establish a model for how other institutions could improve the security of their wireless networks.—Maria José Viñas
8 Responses to Dartmouth Tries to Tighten Wireless Security
johnbarnes - January 19, 2012 at 9:19 am
For those of us who teach in the arts, this should be even more obvious — in our classes students make/do art of one kind or another, and the art comes from somewhere – but I’ve known many teachers, and sometimes have been the teacher, who didn’t pick up on the backstory. Quite possibly because during some of my time in grad school, I really did not want to be manipulated via my own backstory, and at other times, I desperately needed to work with it and couldn’t yet. So there is even a backstory to ignoring backstory.
Dr. Jillian T. Weiss - January 19, 2012 at 10:18 am
Thank you for a very affecting call to be with my students as a human being, as well as a teacher.
bisonboy - January 19, 2012 at 12:15 pm
Robert, you are so right! Students come to our classrooms with, in many cases, incredible backstories. As I start each semester with a new class, after getting some basic information from each student which they write on a 3 x 5 card, I give them the opportunity to “intereview the professor.” Yesterday one student asked me what my pet peeve as a professor was? I honestly could not come up with one immediately, but after a bit of reflection, I told the class my pet peeve would be other professors who do not consider their students as individuals but just pawns to whom they pontificate. I do not want to be that type of professor. Knowing, even a little bit of, the backstory keeps me more human and empathetic. Not that the backstory should allow a student to do subpar work or to expect certain priviledges, but knowing it allows me to work with them, individually, if need be, to be successful in my science classes. I do not mind doing that if the student shows me a true desire to work hard.
punkassninja - January 19, 2012 at 3:44 pm
I’m fine with the whole backstory idea; students are infinitely interesting. But I hope you aren’t suggesting that we should be mindreaders or assume every person with bad attendance is sick, challenged, etc. Sometimes they just don’t want to be there and there is nothing more to be read into the situation. And sometimes there is, but they need to communicate that to us.
wilkenslibrary - January 19, 2012 at 5:54 pm
As an ESL instructor, I require my students to write a daily journal. Some write about their seemingly unchanging routines, but others write much more personal things which allows me, like Robert Talbert, to respond in ways that sometimes make a difference in their lives.
I teach not only to help my students become more proficient in English but also to share the joys (a child’s first birthday, an A on a chemistry midterm) and grapple with the challenges (I’ll leave you to imagine those) in our lives.
Betsy Smith/Adjunct Professor of ESL/Cape Cod Community College
Robert Talbert - January 22, 2012 at 3:18 pm
I’m certainly no mindreader myself – my attempts at empathy often end up being good sit-com material – so I don’t recommend trying that. I do recommend giving students the benefit of the doubt. Sometimes students are disengaged and there’s nothing stopping them from being engaged other than simply choosing to be so. But often, students don’t want to be there for a reason, and they don’t communicate these things to us for a reason. So it’s important to be patient and open to the possibility that there’s more there than meets the eye (even if there turns out not to be).
chenxue - February 21, 2012 at 3:43 am
As an ESL instructor, I require my students to write a daily journal. Some write about their seemingly unchanging routines, but others write much more personal things which allows me, like Robert Talbert, to respond in ways that sometimes make a difference in their lives.
http://www.wholesalebiz.org/
I teach not only to help my students become more proficient in English but also to share the joys (a child’s first birthday, an A on a chemistry midterm) and grapple with the challenges (I’ll leave you to imagine those) in our lives.
Betsy Smith/Adjunct Professor of ESL/Cape Cod Community College
ayetong - April 9, 2012 at 5:33 am
Solar Traffic Warning Light
http://www.traffic-products.net/