SITTING down to check your e-mail in an ITC lab is a little more difficult this year than it was when we left in the spring. Students are now required to type in their user name and password and log on to all of the computers that are in the labs or classrooms. No longer is it possible to stop in a lab for 60 seconds and check your e-mail between classes. While it does provide security, the login process as it stands represents an undue inconvenience, raises some privacy concerns and provides few benefits for students.
The frequently asked questions page on the ITC Web site regarding the transition informs us that the login procedure "increases your security as a lab user by discouraging unauthorized people from outside the University community from using your labs." This remains a reasonable goal. Teresa Lockhard, the Directory of Computing Support Services for ITC, agreed "Anyone could log in so there were times when the police had to be called to deal with people who were behaving unacceptably," she said.
The physical security of our labs and classrooms is certainly important to all of us. A number of the labs in the dorm areas require a key code to enter, but some labs are kept unlocked all the time, so forcing users to log in does not necessarily discourage poor behavior from students or people not affiliated with the University in the labs. The ITC Web site also tells us that the login procedure makes "it more difficult for individuals to use anonymous public machines to launch cyber attacks against other computers." Lockhard, however, acknowledged that no such attack has ever been detected as originating from an ITC lab.
The primary purpose of the login procedure seems to reduce the perceived anonymity of the labs. Lockhard stated that "people think differently if they can be traced." It certainly makes sense that someone would be less likely to launch a bomb threat or send threatening e-mails to another student if they knew they were logged into the computer. Preventing these unauthorized uses of the computers is certainly a valid concern.
Since ITC has a vested interest in seeing these labs secure, the login procedure is worthwhile. However, there are several changes that should be made to make the login system safer and more beneficial for the students. First, the privacy concerns should be addressed. Lockhard admits that ITC is "monitoring nothing; just that you signed on at one time and off at another time." This information, though, coupled with other sources of information, should be tightly controlled. I was assured that such information would only be released through the proper channels, but ITC should create a clear policy specifically for the dissemination of this information both inside and outside the University. The students should be told specifically who can request login information and for what purposes.
Second, the login procedure itself needs to be improved. An informal test in Small Hall showed that it took about a minute and a half to log on and about 30 seconds to log off. Considering that the ITC computers are all relatively new, it should not be too hard to utilize an authentication scheme which can log on and off in a matter of seconds rather than minutes. This would reduce the inconvenience on the students greatly.
Since a computer already has the student's login information once a student signs in, it could easily be incorporated into the e-mail client and home directory. Now that a student has to log on to the computer, the computer should automatically connect to that student's e-mail account and home directory account. This will also increase the efficiency at which the students can utilize the resources despite the additional time spent logging in.
Currently, the computers in the classrooms use the same software suite as the lab computers and thus students and professors are required to log in to utilize them. A separate setup should be created for the classrooms. The physical security is not as large an issue as in the labs, and therefore the potential benefits the login procedure has to offer are out-weighed by the encumbrance on the professors trying to give Power Point presentations. Already I have seen one professor unable to log on to present to the class and another logged out in the middle of class, losing his calculations.
We all have a vested interest in security at the University, both physical and electronic. For that purpose it is reasonable for the new login procedure to remain in place. However, ITC should work as hard as possible to streamline the process and add additional features so that in the end, the login procedure is a benefit to students, not an inconvenience.
Daniel Bagley is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. He can be reached at dbagley@cavalierdaily.com.
Read More
UPADHYAYA: The Great and not-so-Good sides of U.Va.’s 2030 housing plan
By Apal Upadhyaya | 2 days agoInstead of improving the dire state of existing infrastructure, however, the University has shifted attention away from it and chosen to expand.
EDITORIAL: Support low-barrier shelters in Charlottesville
By Editorial Board | 3 days agoInvesting in low-barrier shelters now will pay off in increased stability for the homeless, which will undoubtedly improve the safety of shelters and the community writ large.
SHRAUGER: McIntire’s three-year model limits opportunities for first-year students
By Alex Shrauger | 4 days agoBy pigeonholing students into commerce so early, the University violates its own mission of providing a holistic education that produces students capable of succeeding in a variety of fields.
