Password needed for off-campus access to UNC network

CLARIFICATION: A previous version of this article overly simplified which actions will be affected by the March 30 change. The story has been changed to include the specific actions. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for any confusion.

With attacks against the campus network increasing each year, UNC officials have taken another step toward stronger information security.

Starting on March 30, students and faculty accessing remote desktop tools and on-campus printing from off campus will have to go through a secure Virtual Private Network, verified by their Onyen and password.

Jim Gogan, director of networking for Information Technology Services, said the VPN acts as a tunnel that people connect through to access the campus network from their homes or personal computers.

“You can’t get into the campus network unless you have the VPN password.”

Stan Waddell, executive director for information security, said the number of unwanted connections on the campus network has been increasing.

These unwanted connections come from people trying to connect to the network that don’t have permission, and could include people trying to hack campus systems.

But these connections aren’t necessarily malicious, he added, and there’s no way to pinpoint how many are actual attacks.

He said ITS uses an Intrusion Prevention System, which monitors traffic coming into and out of campus, to detect potentially harmful attacks.

Overall traffic, which can include malicious attacks, has been increasing rapidly, doubling between 2009 and 2010.

The system blocks between 3 to 4 million unwanted connections per week, Waddell said.

He said departmental firewalls also protect sensitive areas of the campus network.

“More than 20 of those firewalls block on average about 30 million connections,” he said.

Larry Conrad, vice chancellor for information technology and chief information officer, said staying on top of information security is daunting, but crucial.

“It’s an arms race. It escalates all the time,” he said.

Conrad said even though ITS has taken four rounds of budget cuts, he has barely cut the information security office and has actually increased its staff support.

Conrad said attacks on the campus network are especially dangerous because the University houses sensitive data, including federally protected health and student information.

“Ten to 15 years ago, it was basically kids who would hack the computers just to show they could,” Conrad said. “Now it’s organized crime.”

__Senior Writer Paula Seligson contributed reporting_._

Contact the University Editor at university@dailytarheel.com.