Safe surfing for Internet users

by Sara Bisker
For The Post

A student logs onto his Ohio University account from his residence hall computer.

He checks his bank account balance and buys a Valentine gift online with his credit card. He leaves for class after closing the windows on his computer.

An hour later, the student's roommate wakes up. The roommate remembers he needs to buy concert tickets online and opens the Internet browser, and a Web page containing his roommate's credit card account appears.

This scenario can happen at OU, said Josh Thomas, Communication Network Services technical support analyst.

Students would not leave their residence hall rooms without locking their doors, and they should follow the same rules when using their computers, he said.

"Think about who else is going to use your computer," said Sean O'Mally, public relations manager for CNS.

Some students said they realize the Internet is not secure.

"I don't think the Internet is really private," said OU freshman Saud S. Bin Driss, a computer science major. "We have hackers and people monitoring what we do."

Computer users should not give out e-mail account information or passwords to anyone, Thomas said.

"There is a misperception among students," he said. "Big Brother (the government) is not the biggest threat; it's the people around them."

The Internet is maintained through a system of wires, routers and a caching server, said Ken Bailey, data network manager for CNS.

A caching server is a device that temporarily stores information that is used frequently. For example, many students use Hotmail (http://www.hotmail.com) to send and receive e-mail messages. The information has been stored after its initial retrieval, and then the most recent application is brought up, Bailey said.

A caching server speeds up Internet connections because the information does not have to be retrieved every time it is requested, he said.

When users do not properly log off from the Internet, the most recent Web page could come up automatically when another student uses the same computer, Bailey said.

CNS officials do not pass judgement about what students are doing on their computers. And they do not actively police the network, Thomas said.

"We don't know; we don’t care," O'Mally said.

The educational diversity on campus makes blocking materials difficult, Thomas said.

What one person sees as a threat, another would see as necessary, he said. For example, a physics major transferring programs about nuclear devices might be viewed as dangerous to others.

"We run a high risk of blocking an educational service if we implement a firewall," Thomas said.

As a result, university computers do not have firewalls, which screen computers from hackers and prevent companies from storing information from purchases made on the Web, Thomas said.

But OU freshman Matthew Jaeger said he thinks a hacker probably could retrieve private information about him.

"I think people can get any information they want to if they know how," he said. "But I don't have anything worth taking."

Students who have questions concerning Internet privacy can contact CNS at 593-1222. The Support Center also can be reached by e-mail at abuse@ohio.edu.