cyber security: [april 2008]
Published: 03/08
- Umpqua Community College's Course Management System Breached
From "Moodle Hacked at Oregon College" by: Dian Schaffhauser, Campus Technology - Students at Umpqua Community College in Winchester, Ore., might have had their personal information disclosed following a breach of the college's Moodle course management system. After the application was reported to be slowing down, the college suspected a security vulnerability. Moodle, an open source program used for students to communicate with professors and complete assignments, is managed by an external service provider. The college has been simultaneously running another course management system along with Moodle since last April. The application remained running in the absence of a security patch, a factor contributing to the recent hack. The breach occurred when a hacker infiltrated the system and stored students' names and passwords in the open source system. Although Moodle has temporarily been suspended, a task force is evaluating the potential for reinstating the system. The college has required all users of the school's applications to set up new PINs, though no misappropriation of the infiltrated data has been reported.
Read more >
