IT makes IPs private to prevent phishing, hacking

By Cindy Dinh     10/2/08 7:00pm

After navigating through a storm of phishing e-mail scams, network viruses and potential hackers throughout the past year, Information Technology is taking defensive measures to increase the security level on campus networks. IT is making the Rice student network more secure by keeping each individual computer's IP address private on the Internet. Every week Rice's network processes hundreds of thousands of threats, scams, and hacking attempts which makes the system unstable, William Deigaard, director of Networking, Telecommunications and Data Center. He compared the amount of incoming traffic from the Internet to the magnitude of a natural disaster.

"It's like standing outside during Hurricane Ike," Deigaard said. "It just happens to be wind and rain that's blowing a lot harder and a lot faster. The weather has gotten worse on the Internet for Rice."

IT will be making IP addresses private for users on the Rice student network accessing the Internet.

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This one-way access will ensure that no unwanted data can be transmitted back to the user's computer, Deigaard said.

"We're going to be blocking a certain type of traffic on the Internet," Deigaard said. "The key thing is the type of traffic we're blocking is the type of traffic that people aren't requesting."

He likens the security change to a blocked outgoing number that shows up as an anonymous number on a caller ID.

"You can call someone, have a conversation and hang up," Deigaard said. "But if people try to call you back they can't do it because they don't know your phone number."

With differentiated security levels, Deigaard said the student network will be more secure than the Internet would otherwise be. He said the current security measure that prevents others from accessing one's computer is similar to the security measures in the dorms. With a public IP address, a single door stands between the outdoors and the student dorm room, he said.

"If that one door isn't locked, you are exposed," Deigaard said.

IT is moving to a more secure model, similar to having two doors between the outdoors and the dorm room.

"Right now we're implementing that door between us and outside," he said.

The security change will be enacted for the student network, primarily because undergraduates live on campus, he said. Students who surf the web on laptops will also be covered if they are logged onto the Rice network. Owlspace and Webmail programs should be largely unaffected by this change, as it only affects the Rice Students network.

Catherine Bratic contributed to this article.

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