Monday, November 4, 2002
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Citing Security Risks, U. of California at Santa Barbara Bans Windows 2000 on Residential NetworkBy BROCK READ
In an effort to protect its residential computer network from worms, viruses, and other threats, the University of California at Santa Barbara has banned students on the network from using two Microsoft operating systems -- Windows 2000 and Windows NT 4.0. The Microsoft Corporation, however, says the problems the Santa Barbara campus has experienced are more the result of the way its network is configured than of any flaws in the operating systems. Windows 2000 was "primarily responsible for hundreds of problems" that afflicted the residential computing system during the 2001-2 academic year, according to a policy statement that university technology officials issued to students. The network had to be shut down on multiple occasions last year because of worms, viruses, and denial-of-service attacks that were unleashed from insecure computers on the network. Only about 200 of the network's 3,800 computers ran Windows 2000 last year, but most of the security breaches were traced to those computers, according to Curtis Kline, coordinator of Santa Barbara's residential network. Mr. Kline attributes the infiltrations to the operating system's default security settings, which may confuse novice users into setting up their machines in ways that let enterprising hackers gain access to the network without entering a password. He says that Windows XP Home and XP Professional -- systems Santa Barbara recommends to students and sells in its bookstore -- are easier to set up properly and, therefore, more difficult to breach. But John DuBois, of Microsoft's education-solutions group, says Santa Barbara's struggles with Windows 2000 reflect the vagaries of its own network, not any flaws in the operating system. "It's nothing endemic to the software," Mr. DuBois says. "They're basically running an Internet in the open for their residential students. They have the same kinds of problem that any open computer network will have." Network administrators at Santa Barbara say there's still a place for Windows 2000 at their institution. "We're not talking about a campuswide prohibition," says Mr. Kline. "In our department, Windows 2000 is the standard operating system. In a more controlled corporate environment, we're very happy with it." But guiding individual students through the process of setting up Windows 2000 is a yeoman's task, according to Mr. Kline. "It's certainly easier to get the word out to the students about security vulnerabilities if you only have to tell them about one or two operating systems," he says. On discussion boards at technology-related Web sites like ExtremeTech.com and Slashdot, some computer-security analysts have accused Santa Barbara of lazy network administration, but Mr. Kline argues that detractors overlook the demands placed on the university's support staff and the differences between a college network and a secure corporate system. He says that residential-network administrators at other institutions have "complained bitterly" about the Windows 2000 settings. But neither Mr. Kline nor Mr. DuBois is aware of any other college that has adopted a similar policy.
Background articles from The Chronicle:
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 Report details shift in federal research priorities, decline in funds for physical sciences Education Department eases rules on incentive payments to college recruiters Some adjunct faculty members at Western Michigan U. win right to earn tenure Occidental College's president denies report linking $10-million gift offer and possible candidacy for L.A. school board Canisius College to drop 8 of its 23 sports teams Teaching photography without darkrooms Citing security risks, U. of California at Santa Barbara bans Windows 2000 on residential network |
Copyright © 2002 by The Chronicle of Higher Education