February 18th, 2008 changed the course of campus security for many educational institutions across the nation. This is the day that Stephen Kazmierczak opened fire on 140 students in a lecture hall at Northern Illinois University. He shot over 21 people, killing five, before turning the gun on himself.

One year later, NIU Chief of Security Donald Grady states that it has adjusted it’s campus police protocol to provide better and more consistent services to an ever-changing campus climate. One big change that Grady has implemented is making sure his officers are embedded in campus life. “They’re dressed like students, they look like students. In fact, they go to class. They are in effect students but they are highly trained, highly qualified, highly capable,” said Chief Grady. This program is dubbed CAMPUS (Community Assault Mitigation Program for University Systems) and likens the same training that federal air marshals receive. Chief Grady won’t relinquish the number of undercover “students” he has on campus but hopes that their known presence will dissuade anyone from wanting to do anything unlawful. “So if we have another response like this(February 18th shooting), the bad guy-the shooter- doesn’t know what class they’re in, he doesn’t know where he’s going to find them,” said Chief Grady.

NIU security officials have also recently adopted a mandate that requires all university officers to get counseling. “When we insist everybody go now the stigma is gone because everybody had to go in there. Now what you say when you’re in there is between you and the psychologist,” said Chief Donald Grady. The purpose of this is to assure that officers are prepared to respond to all potential situations, regardless of how horrific they may be.

Since the attack, the university has been working on new ways to communicate with students and staff including text messaging, adding loud speakers outdoors and creating a system that allows all the loud speakers to be centrally controlled. “The thing about communication in crises that I know is that there is no one technology that is going to solve that problem. It’s communicate, communicate, communicate any way you can,” said John Peters, NIU president. The president also indicates that the University is investing more resources and attention to the mental health services offered onNIU’s campus. He goes on to say that students may not have come forward in the past because they didn’t know where to turn for help. He hopes that the increased awareness of the mental health services may provide students the help that they need before their situation becomes a crisis.
NIU recently unveiled the plans for a new garden that will be placed on campus to serve as a memorial for the five students killed in the shooting. A highlighted feature of the garden will be five sections of granite (the reflection wall) that will each be 10 feet wide, 4 1/2 feet tall and bearing the name of one of the five students. The garden will provide a secluded sitting area that will be surrounded by 20 dawn redwood, white oak, and evergreen trees. President John Peters states, “In contrast to the events that occurred at Cole Hall a year ago today, this will forever be a special place of peace and reflection on our campus. Memorial Garden will honor the memories of the five students we lost that day, while at the same time embracing the resolute Huskie spirit characterized by ‘Forward, Together Forward.’ ”

NIU Facts:

• Located 65 miles west of downtown Chicago
• Total enrollment of 24,397 students (fall 2008)
• Student to Faculty Ratio: 17 to 1
• NIU offers outreach learning centers in: Hoffman Estates, Naperville, Rockford and Oregon

Using a common research study in an unprecedented way, Geography Professors at UCLA have pinpointed Osama’s whereabouts. They state that he is located in the city of Parachinar in Kurram, Pakistan. Now before you get excited and think that this means the end of Osama Bin Laden, you have to first understand the basis of the research methodology utilized to make this great “discovery”.

Professors Thomas Gillespie & John Agnew, relying upon scientific theories to track the migration and distribution patterns of animals coupled with satellite imagery believe that their hypothesis regarding Bin Ladens location to be substantiated and backed by science. Using distance decay theory to predict movement from his last know location in Afghanistan to possible other locations, they were led to Parachinar through an extensive process of elimination. They have even narrowed it down to the type of building that he would be more than likely to be using for hiding. They predicted that the building would have less than three rooms(he prefers a small group of body guards) and tree coverage to limit aerial views (you know.. avoiding spy satellites and drone planes). Using this criteria, there are only three buildings in Parachinar that qualify.

So what now.. send in the reinforcements right? Well..uh.. no. The CIA has been consulted and an official states that he has not seen the report drafted by the Professors but he would recommend that anyone “take it with a huge grain of salt”.

Given that the U.S. lost track of Osama Bin Laden during the winter following the September 11th attacks when he left his safe haven of Tora Bora, you would think that Intelligence Agencies would take more interest in the research findings of these two Geography Professors. But without additional substantiation, I guess their hypothesis will stand alone as just a theory. Unless of course, the Professors want to take a sabbatical and make a quick trip to Pakistan…???

Officials at the University of Florida just recently announced that an unauthorized intruder gained access to a computer system containing files for over 97,000 people. The files were housing private information (Names & Social Security Numbers) for Faculty, Staff, and Students that had access to the University’s “GROVE” system from 1996 to 2009. The breach was discovered on January 14th during a systems review.

The University states that the “GROVE” system was originally created to provide an online location for faculty to host course materials and class information, and it supported one of the few free email services available to those on campus. Users were required to identify themselves to the database by using their University ID number, which in most cases was the social security number. (Side Note: Most Universities have now gone to great lengths to remove a student’s social security number as the generic identifier for the student. Students are now assigned a system generated ID number that is not related to the social security number.)

The University is now in the process of notifying the 97,000 people impacted by this data breach. They don’t believe that that intruder obtained any of the confidential information but the University urges anyone who believes to have had information housed on this system to take proper precautions.The University has established a toll-free hotline and encourages concerned individuals to drop them a line at (877) 657-9133

Unfortunately, data breaches are not new news for the University of Florida. Back in November of 2008, its College of Dentistry released information stating that the personal information for over 330,000 dental patients were exposed and available to a hacker. Apparently the hacker had gained access to the College’s server and unleashed a program that discretely disseminates information past the University’s firewalls.

University of Florida Facts:

• Florida’s largest University
• 4th largest University in the country
• Enrollment of over 50,000 students
• Ranked 17th in U.S. News and World Report (2007)
• Employs over 35,000 faculty and staff

Hackers and spammers love just about any Hallmark holiday. However, extra effort does seem to appear on their behalf around Valentines Day. Maybe they are playing on our emotions and hoping that a harmless looking email with a warm and fuzzy Valentine header will make it past our usual email sorting defenses. Regardless, it is important to be vigilant at all times(especially at holidays) when going through your inbox.  If you are not, you may compromise your computer and all your personal data that you may be housing on it.

Back in 2007, many unsuspecting computer users fell prey to the Storm Virus that was released by an army of hackers and spammers. It was deployed again in 2008 utilizing Valentine Day spam and is estimated by security professionals to be used again in 2009.  “Clearly the old Storm folks are working as hard as they can to build up their new botnet, and are following the old tried-and-true methods of centering their social engineering tactics around holiday themes,” said Masiello in a post to the MX Logic Blog. Masiello goes on to say:”But it still impresses me that tactics like this continue to work and be so effective, despite how many times it gets recycled”

SmartSecurityPeople.com wishes all of our readers a wonderful Valentine’s Day. We hope that you and your computers remain safe from unwelcome Valentine viruses.

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has gone through a number of branding changes since inception of it’s first franchise in 1952. However the one thing that has maintained consistency through the years is Colonel Harland Sander’s secret recipe. He formulated the recipe in 1940. The recipe lays out the exact mixture of eleven herbs and spices that is used to coat KFC’s Original Recipe chicken. It is written in pencil on a yellowed piece of paper and bears the signature of Harland Sanders.

The recipe has maintained top secret status in the company and only two top executives (KFC won’t release their names or titles) have access to the recipe at any given time. The security and safety measures of keeping the original recipe intact and out of harms way has been paramount. The ingredients are produced and blended by multiple suppliers and each organization only knows a part of the entire contents.

The recipe has been in an undisclosed location for the past 5 months while the vault that housed the holy grail of chicken recipes was upgraded to included the latest and greatest technologies. The recipe was recently returned to KFC’s headquarters in a lockbox handcuffed to the wrist of a security consultant.  Once the recipe was placed in the new electronic vault and the door shut, the president of KFC, Roger Eaton,  gave a sigh of relief and stated “mission accomplished.” Eaton stated that the process was nerve wracking and that he did not want to be known as the president who lost the recipe.

As for the security of the new vault that is protecting the priceless recipe… The vault is now secured by motion detectors and surveillance cameras that allow a guard to monitor the status of the vault at all times.  Thick concrete blocks encapsulate the vault and a backup generator is wired in to keep the security system powered at all times. Given all the measures that have been taken, it surely appears that the Colonel’s secret recipe will indeed remain just that.. a secret!

Company Facts:

• KFC had 15,580 locations worldwide at the end of 2008, including 5,253 in the U.S.
• The franchise is hoping to combat sluggish sales by rolling out a new value meal and grilled chicken product in early April.
• KFC is owned by YUM! Brands. In addition to KFC, the company also owns A&W All-American Food, Taco Bell, Long John Silver, and Pizza Hut.