The Capital Times, December 9, 2005 PSH stands as they go wireless By Matthew Mahoney Staff Reporter mlmso39@psu.edu In today's technological and computer-savvy world there have been many advancements within the last ten years to make our lives easier. High speed Internet, which was once a commodity reserved only for a select few, is now in almost every home. One development that has taken the lead in computing is wireless connectivity. Connecting to the Internet via a wireless connection has made many peoples lives much easier and entertaining. A person can now take their work with them and find a comfortable spot to drop down and write those last pages of a paper or lab report. On any given day there could be upwards of ten laptops in Stacks Market, all of them connected to the Penn State Harrisburg wireless connection. Now students are not just limited to the lobby or the cafeteria. PSH is the first campus in the Penn State system to achieve full wireless capabilities that cover the entire campus. When many students first arrived they were told only certain sections of the campus were covered by the PSH wireless service. Now every building and every area of the campus is covered. From Olmsted to the CUB and continuing on down to the MET lab, PSH has become a leader in the services provided by the Information and Technology department on any Penn State campus. Not only is this a first amongst all Penn State campuses but it is also a highly secure network. Anyone that signs on to the network is logged onto a record. While this aids in making the network more secure it is also a written testament to how popular wireless networking has become. The VPN client that is used to authenticate any user on the system is also a highly secure program that is offered for free to all students that need it for their laptops. There is a version of the VPN client program available for faculty and students to use for their PDAs, but it is not for free; there is a small fee to pay. Before anyone can immediately open up their wireless equipped laptop and begin surfing the Internet from the third floor stairwell (hey, maybe it is someone's favorite hangout), there is one thing a person needs to do first. Go to the library, directly to the front desk and ask for the VPN client that is designed for your operating system- i.e. Windows, Linux, Macintosh. This one little CD comes with the exact program anyone needs and library staff are on hand to assist with installation and explaining the software. An individual that was instrumental intheimplementation of the network is also available at any time to aid students that need help with getting on the network is Mr. Dabis Camero. Camero is the Senior Research Engineer here at PSH. Camero's office is in 302 East in the Olmsted Building. He can also be reached by email at decl 1@ psu.edu. As PSH leads the entire Penn State system in its IT growth one can only wonder what lies ahead for our campus. Rest assured though, fellow Staters, that PSH will lead the charge into the future. !MEM I!=M alone Phishing For Your Identity By Suzann Teichert Guest Reporter smtsooB@psu.edu How would you respond if you opened up your e-mail to find a message from eßay stating "We suspect an unauthorized transaction on your account. To ensure that your account is not compromised, please click the link below and confirm your identity." The return address is from eßay and it has even included a link you should use to securely provide your information. The number one statement I heard from people when I told them I was writing an article on phishing, was "Oh, you mean spam?" And the answer is no, not spam. We all know what spam is, those annoying e-mails we get asking us if we need sexual enhancement, want to invest in a stock that no one has ever heard of, or any other form of bulk advertising. Spam is the equivalent of paper sales circulars in your mailbox. Phishing is a new scam that is used to get people to turn over their personal information, such as bank account and credit card numbers. Phishing is one of many forms of identity theft. The phishers send an authentic looking e-mail, mimicking a bank or online site, to you asking for your personal information. They use tactics to scare you into thinking your personal information has been compromised or tell you if you do not respond your account will be suspended. The message is aimed to cause some panic and trigger an immediate response. International News The creators of the messages are often extremely careful to make the message appear to be from an authentic source. They will even direct you not to send personal information via e-mail because it is not secure, but instead to use the link they provided. The link is spoofed to appear valid and will take you to a page that also appears to be valid. There is currently no fool proof technology available for catching phishing messages. Unlike spam, phishers address their messages to just one person a time. Some phishers take extra time to personalize each message. This allows each message to pass through spam filters. It is important for every computer user to protect themselves from this scam. Young adults age 18 to 29 are now the largest group of individuals with identity theft cases. The following tips are provided by the Federal Trade Commission to protect you from phishers. Never reply to e-mail messages asking for personal or financial information. Reputable companies will never request information from you via e-mail. Also, never respond to pop-up messages that ask for personal information. Never e-mail personal information. E-mail is not a secure method of transmission, encryption is not used and it is easy for hackers to access the content of your message. Use caution when opening attachments or downloading information. This is especially true if you don't know the source. Using a firewall and anti-virus software offers protection from either spyware or viruses being downloaded to your computer. Forward any suspect phishing messages to spam@uce.gov. Contact the business directly using a known good phone number to verify the message or to report the fraud. Review bank and credit card statements as soon as you receive them. Keep track of your spending. Doing so will make it easier to notice unauthorized withdraws or charges to you account. Request a copy of your credit report annually. There are three major credit reporting agencies in the U.S., Equifax, Trans Union and Experian. New federal laws mandate that you be able to obtain one free copy of your report annually. This is important to do even if you don't have credit. It is possible that someone else has used your information to obtain credit lines. Phishing websites which often appear almost identical to legitimate sites can be very deceiving. With college students and young adults being the most targeted victims it is important that you pay attention while online. Pay attention to the emails you receive and never give out your personal information over e mail. It is important to educate yourself, your parents, your grandparents, your professors and anyone on this issue. The clone of these major websites which is used appears identical in most instances. It is important that you read the website address to be sure of its origin. If you are ever curious or suspicious about a certain website you should contact the company. Don't 1.)9 the next person to fall victim to a phishing scam. If you would like to learn more about phishing check out www. antiphishing.org. They have recent examples of websites which have been used by phishers as well as more information about this type of crime. 18 to 29-year- olds are the larg- est targeted group. According to the FTC, one in ever 23 Americans is a vic- tim of identity theft.
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