Tag Archive for: opinion

COLUMN: Wi-Fi scandal raises questions | Opinion

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SFA has upgraded their internet security to presumably prevent another cyberattack like last summer. However, they jumped the gun by blocking too much, leaving many students confused and annoyed.

As of this week, students have noticed poor connections and an inability to connect to online gaming parties. The upgraded system also recognizes VPNs as a threat, so students who care about their personal internet safety are unable to log into accounts that use the CAS login, like mySFA and D2L, and may be blocked from internet access.

It was later revealed that IT has identified the issue and is working toward unblocking it in the firewall. Despite this, students have seen little to no changes in their inability to leisurely hop online, and some speculate that this blocking was purposeful to stop students from using so much Wi-Fi.

Whatever the reason, SFA has disrupted the lives of students. One cannot help but think this has come at an inopportune time, as the semester ends and finals begin to rear their ugly heads. Students are already stressed, so adding more stress to their lives is a misstep—one that was easily avoidable.

Why make changes during the semester, after students have already had months to get used to the Wi-Fi system? The summer would have been a much better time to get this sorted out, with the majority of students being gone, but never mind logic and reason.

Not to be ignored is the fact that students pay a lot of money to live on campus. With this payment comes the understanding that they are afforded some level of leisure time, but that has now been taken away for the student who wants to unwind online. We take one step closer to an Orwellian future, day by day, as we allow ourselves to be manipulated.

Time will tell if SFA truly aims at fixing these issues. One can only hope they are able to tackle them with as much haste as they had when implementing them. As the students get tread on by changing policies throughout the semester, a question is raised: where do students fall on SFA’s hierarchy?

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Israel Underestimated Hamas. It Cannot Make the Same Mistake With Iran – Opinion

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Opinion: Is it just another day on the internet?

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February 15, 2024 at 6:00 p.m.

by

Deborah Levine




My first reaction to the hacking attempts on my website was to wonder about the motivation behind it. Were the multiple failed login attempts related to the emails I just sent announcing an upcoming event about “Serving our Diverse Communities”? The event’s purpose is to highlight and honor those who serve and have them share their expertise. So, given its diversity element, could the motivation behind these attempts to mess with the back end of my website be at least partly political?

How could I not ponder that possibility? I’ve lost count of the number of articles I’ve read either complaining or rejoicing in the death of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). Their titles flashed through my mind as the politics around DEI ramps up: “Is DEI Officially Dead?” and “DEI is dead.


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Fortifying our cybersecurity posture | Inquirer Opinion

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When we say defense these days, we do not just refer to the physical space—the land, sea, and air in our territory.

Digital Defense Report 2023, released by Microsoft last month, found that a Chinese state-sponsored actor, Raspberry Typhoon, has been showing sustained interest in the South China Sea amid growing tensions in the area. The group has been targeting government agencies in charge of trade, intelligence, and finance, as well as military and corporate entities associated with critical infrastructure such as information and communication systems, power grids, and transportation networks. It has been conducting its attacks focused on countries surrounding the South China Sea.

But Raspberry Typhoon is just one of the numerous threats confronting us. Across the world, we often hear reports of hacks, data breaches, and cybercrime. In recent weeks, four government agencies—Philippine Health Insurance Corp., the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Senate, and the House of Representatives—have been attacked. These attacks undermine confidence in institutions and erode public trust by exposing sensitive and personal information managed by these institutions.

The truth is bad actors abound and are just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike. They attack anyone who is conveniently vulnerable, and who has high stakes in their information systems.

Dutch cybersecurity firm SurfShark revealed in its Global Data Breach study that as of October 2023, the Philippines ranked 17th out of 250 countries in data breaches. Since 2004, at least 124 million accounts have been breached in the Philippines, accounting for 0.7 percent of the total global number.

Cybersecurity is a crucial parallel track of the administration’s digital transformation agenda. President Marcos has time and again said we should pursue a digitally-driven economic growth and conduct the affairs of government electronically. While efforts are being made toward this end, through the earnest collaboration of the public and private sectors, much is left to be desired when it comes to building and fortifying our cyber defense posture, not…

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