MINARET UNIVERSITY OF TAMPA’S NEWS SOURCE SINCE 1933
THE Vo l u m e
80
Number
11
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November
7, 2013
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Virtually Undetectable Malware Infecting Students’ Computers By DOHA MADANI News Writer
gnackgnackgnack/Flickr
“When hacker groups put this encrypted malware on your computer, they start looking for Social Security numbers or credit cards,” Tammy Clark said.
In Other News...
Hiding under student computer hardware is malware that steals personal data. It’s lurking somewhere deep, and most anti-virus software cannot find it. The malware then reports to a ring of cybercriminals who might be selling that information on the black market. This may sound like something out of a low-budget movie, but these viruses are real and are affecting students at the University of Tampa. Within two days of the freshmen arrival on campus this past August, over 100 instances of this malware were found, according to the Office of Information Security. “There are a lot of infected systems in the dorms. Students are coming to campus with them, and they are getting infected before they even come here,” said Tammy Clark, chief information security officer at UT. According to Clark, the most dangerous aspect of these new brands of viruses, typically called bots, is that the bots are virtually undetectable by the common user. One of the main targets for hackers are universities, which have networks with high
value information and high volumes of users. “When hacker groups put this encrypted malware on your computer, they start looking for Social Security numbers or credit cards,” said Tammy Clark, chief information security officer at UT. “The virus starts downloading it, putting keystroke loggers on it, collecting it…and they send it back to themselves to sell on the black market.” Three of the leading causes of these infections come from corrupted web pages, emails with tainted links and software that “auto-installs” when you visit a particular site. If one person’s social media or email account is accessed, hackers can send these corrupted links to an entire network of friends to infect other computers. “I think it is really scary,” said Sabrina Milroy, junior and economics major. “People can do things with technology that others do not even think of. I have seen warnings about this threat on Tumblr, and it is definitely real.” The Office of Information Security at UT has taken measures to protect students against See MALWARE Page 4
New Parking Expansion Expected for 2015
3 Class Creates
PhotoVoice Project for Tampa Homeless
7 Black Friday Chaos: Is it Really Worth It?
9 New Consoles to
Unleash Full Power of Eighth Generation Gaming
11 New York City Bill Raises Smoking Age to 21
13 Hyundai Dealer’s
Commercial ‘Erection’ Pun: Get Over It
16 Men’s Basketball Team Reloaded and Ready to Go
News................................. 2 Diversions........................ 6 A+E................................... 7 Opinion........................... 11
Sports............................. 16
Photo courtesy of UT Office of Public Information
The new parking garage will house the Center for Entrepreneurship and Campus Safety and will include a late night cafe for students. By KHADIJAH KHAN News Writer
Across many university newspapers, one issue seems to come up again and again: student parking. There have been constant complaints about UT not having enough parking, although 250 spaces were added last year. However, that will finally change as the university begins the construction of another parking garage. In an email that was sent to the entire student body, the school announced a new building that would be seven stories and “will include classrooms, student meeting rooms, faculty offices, Campus Safety headquarters, parking and unique space for UT’s Entrepreneurship Center.” Zachary Iacovino, a senior and government and world affairs major, was overjoyed with the news of a new parking garage despite graduation being right around the corner.
“I think it’s fantastic. Parking is obviously a huge issue on campus, so it’s reassuring to know that the university recognizes that and is taking steps to remedy it. The new cafe is nice too! It’s a shame I won’t be around to enjoy it since I’m graduating,” Iacovino said. While students don’t seem to be hiding their excitement for the new structure, the new parking garage will not be completed until late 2014 and the academic building will be finished in early 2015. Along with having new academic classrooms and a parking garage the building will also be home to a cafe that will have indoor and outdoor seating as well as being open later at night. “I am in full support of this plan if more parking is involved. It’ll be exciting to see another addition to campus and I hope to get to see the final product before I graduate and another place to eat is always welcome on campus,” Lianne McCarthy, junior allied health major said.
Patrick “PK” Creedon, a senior and marketing and international business major, was very pleased with the action taken by administration to better the lives of the university’s students. Creedon also hopes that the next project to be tackled will be a new and improved gym. “As president, I’m fortunate to have a large amount of influence, but obviously not the power associated with making construction and expansion decisions. I am extremely excited to see administration responding to the students parking concern and taking it a step further with the incredible plans for the bottom have of the new building,” Creedon said. Although the construction will not be finished until 2015, the university seems to be making changes that the students appreciate and find not only important but beneficial. Khadijah Khan can be reached at khadijah.khan@spartans.ut.edu