Slashdot Mirror
Oxford Students Hack University Network
An anonymous reader writes "Both The Guardian and BBC News are carrying the story that two students at the University of Oxford, Patrick Foster and Roger Waite, were able to easily hack into the university's internal network in minutes using only easily-available software. Once inside, they could find out anyone's email password, observe instant messenger conversations and control parts of the university's CCTV system. The students were investigating the university's network security for the student newspaper, The Oxford Student, which published a front page article and editorial on the matter. In the article, a university spokesperson is quoted as saying 'In some cases the wish to provide the widest possible computer access as cheaply as possible may mean deciding to go for a cheaper set-up, with potentially lower security.' The students now face disciplinary precedings from the university and could receive rustication (suspension) and a 500 pound fine. The matter has also been passed onto the police."
You know that WOSH sound you just heard?
That was the sound of the joke going RIGHT over your head. That CRASH you just heard was the result of the joke, after going over your head, hitting some of the Apple mods and killing them.
thats a heavy fine - they using stone tablets over there still?
Yeah yeah.. permission and all that.
- Did they break anything? Delete a log? Probably not.
- Did they tell what they did? Disclose the flaws? Yes.
Can someone please hit this uni with a clue stick? Look at my ISP: xs4all.nl (granted, they are formed by a early 70's Dutch hacker group, so they grok security pretty well..)
xs4all gives out FREE acoounts (for a year) to ANYONE who gains un-authorized access to their systems... and TELLS about it. They will file police reports only, if you DONT tell...
"/Dread"