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Serving the St. Louis Community College - Meramec community since 1964 • ACP Award Recipient VOLUME 55, ISSUE 9
WWW.MERAMECMONTAGE.COM
FEBRUARY 13, 2020
Student, faculty, staff data compromised in STLCC cyber attack Social security numbers for 71 individuals accessed
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Bri Heaney News editor
n Feb, 4, STLCC announced in a press release that a cyber security attack occurred in January. Approximately 5, 127 students, faculty and staff were affected by the breach. Nearly 71 social security numbers were compromised during the cyber attack. “I don’t know how they discovered it, but I do know they discovered it Jan. 13, and after that they took some actions steps such as collecting and analyzing the information, the different systems to analyze who was impacted, “said Nev Savala, STLCC communications manager located at the Corporate Cwampus. The cyber security attack was the result of what Savala calls a phishing email. “A phishing email is a suspicious email; you might know that there is something not right about it but sometimes these emails look really
good or look like they may be from an organization that you are familiar with,” she said. Although some emails are more clearly fake, some emails, like the ones sent to staff and faculty at STLCC were more credible looking, she said. Savala said there are red flags in some phishing scams that individuals
can look for like misspellings, unusual URL addresses, or sourced from an organization that is not familiar. However, there are some phishing emails that are more intricate and targeted to look like a familiar legitimate organization. “Sometimes these emails look really good or look like they may be from an
organization that you are familiar with,” said Savala. “In this case, an email was opened and that led to these cyber criminals being able to get access to the information that was in email inboxes.” When the emails were opened and responded to, Savala said sensitive information was breached. After learning about the attack and during the investigation, Savala said she was not aware of any servers or websites being temporarily shut down. Savala said STLCC has notified all students whose information was compromised and has offered credit monitoring to the 71 individuals whose social security numbers were accessed. As for prevention, Savala said that all staff will be re-trained. “There is going to be retraining for all employees on how to handle sensitive information, and further training for employees who opened the phishing emails,” she said. The cyber criminals who forged the attack is still unknown. Savala said that the college is still looking into it.
Study abroad at STLCC
Where in the world could you go this year? Jools Pulcher Art & Life Editor One of the biggest draws for some four year schools tends to be the study abroad programs they offer. However, students don’t need to go to a four year school to experience study abroad. At STLCC, one of the many opportunities students can take advantage of is their choice of study abroad programs. STLCC’s current opportunities
include trips to China, Russia, Costa Rica, Colombia, Scotland, and Canterbury, England. Each trip offered has its own timeline and specific purpose. Students interested in Russian art can sign up for the Russia trip from May 20- June 2 through STLCC. The trip to Costa Rica runs from May 20-29, and it is centered around the endangered ecosystems that exist there and the study of the rainforest. Students looking at visiting Colombia
can do just that on the study abroad trip that lasts from May 20-29. This trip is centered around the study of the health services offered in Colombia. In addition to all other instruction for the trip, attendees will also learn some basic medical Spanish. The Scotland trip lasts from June to July, and is centered around the University of Stirling. During this trip, students learn about the University and what it could offer should students apply
Interested in joining a club? Here are dates, times, and locations of meetings International Club Feb 27, 2-3pm SC201 Mar 3, 2-3pm SC200 Mar 24, 2-3pm SC125 Apr 7, 2-3pm SC125 Apr 23, 2-3pm SC200
Service Learning Club Feb 24, 4:00-5:00 pm Apr 13, 4:00-5:00 pm May 4, 4:00-5:00 pm, Pot Luck Party
PTK Honor Society Queer Student Union Mar 4, 2-4:30pm SC201 Mar 11, 2-4:30pm SC201 Apr 1, 2-4:30pm SC201 Apr 8, 2-4:30pm SC125 Apr 15, 2-4:30pm SC201 May 6, 2-4:30pm SC125
Tuesdays 3-4pm CN212 Business Meeting Thursdays 3-4pm SC125 Membership Meetings.
in the future. The Canterbury, England trip runs from September through December. The trip’s basis is encouraging students to study with British professors in order to gain a better understanding of the global community at large. According to Chris Sulincevski, St. Louis Community College’s Study Continued on pg 5
INSIDE Page 3 Proposed Missouri legislation to restrict library content for minors
Page 4 Kennedy Center American Colllege Theatre Festival
Page 7 Is our healthcare system working?
Student Honors Council 2pm, Thursdays in SC204
Page 8
Basketball spirit day