Kaboom73 took on the responsibility of letting the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences know about the insecurity of the information on its website. The user, still identified only by that handle, on Saturday hacked into the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences website server. The user uploaded the server’s backups and site databases onto the torrent site The Pirate Bay, a 125-megabyte file. According to the user, Pirate Bay contained legitimate copies of the website’s backups, database of contacts, and other sensitive files and passwords. In the message attached to the torrent, the hacker claimed that the intention behind this act was to the vulnerability of Harvard’s servers. “Maybe you don’t like it but this is to demonstrate that persons like [the site administrator]…don’t know how to secure a web site,” the note says. The Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences website was shut down on Monday, presumably in response to the security breach. But this is not the first time Harvard’s servers have been hacked. In 2003, there were multiple breaches traced back to Brazilian hackers. In 2005, hackers broke into the system again to access secure admissions information from several universities. According to Valerie Roman, Director of Technology at Phillips Academy, Andover’s own server contains “contact information, admissions information, grades, etc. No medical records are stored on the PA network.” Students have ranging opinions on having their personal information on PAnet. Aditya Mithal ’10 said, “I don’t care about [having my information on PAnet].” But others are more concerned. “It’s one thing for [potential hackers] to be able to contact me on campus, but my address…I feel like that’s personal,” said Deidra Willis ’09. Some students are unaware of the potential vulnerability of their personal information. Max Parlin ’10 said, “I didn’t even know that information was on PAnet.” But Roman said, “As far as the PA network, servers and data go, we have strong firewalls and internal security mechanisms. We have partnered with a local network security company and continue to be vigilant in continually improving and keeping our environment secure.”
