32 CommentsThis isn’t exactly a novel occurence, but CUIT compromised files which contained the “names, addresses, social security numbers, and bank account numbers” of members of the Columbia community. Oops!
How did this happen? “A Columbia University Information Technology programmer inadvertently and erroneously saved a file on a University web server that could be accessed from outside Columbia. Unfortunately, that file contained personal information of approximately 3,500 individuals.”
In what may be a clever attempt to avoid this sort of thing going forward, those “potentially affected by this incident are receiving a letter via postal mail.”
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32 Comments
@cs major CUIT is total bullshit. i know students who “program” for them, or answer the help desk, who have no qualifications, and literally dont know how to use their own computers.
@Anonymous The info was indexed as a Google doc. for all to see basically. I think it went back to 2010
@former CUIT employee CUIT sucks. so much. they are all SO LAZY.
@yewwww ahahahahahah international students to the fore!
@aaannnnndd Students studying abroad will not be informed at all unless they happen to read Bwog in their absence? Is that what I’m hearing from 3,000 miles away?
@this is why i pay my billz at the registrar in ca$hhhh
@Anonymous Where can i find out if I was on the list NOW!!!
@Anonymous I would like to know whether the file was “discoverable” as well as accessible. If it’s just sitting in the web directory (so that you’d have to know it was there and type its exact URL) that’s not such a big deal.
Also, don’t they have logs which document how many times the thing was accessed?
@Anonymous I called Jeffery Scott’s office today (his signature is on the letter) to ask some questions and was told to call the 877 number on the letter which is Human Resources. The arrogance of this university knows no bounds. I am going to call again tomorrow to ask the question posed by Anonymous. More of us need to call. I am surprised only 24 people have commented on the bwog about this story. The HR number to call is: (877) 634-9071; the VP in charge, Jeffery Scott, is at 4-6639.
@Anonymous This is fucking outrageous. Not even worth it for that brilliant SSNafu pun.
@junior woo – maybe columbia gave out my SSN twice in three years!
@Eric In order to notify those affected, Columbia has posted a copy in 209. Please check and see if your SSN is on the list.
@bwog can you put it up plzzz? be a good campus pub…
@Anonymous This is bullshit. We should be informed immediately.
@COLUMBIA HAVE WE, THE STUDENTS, ANGERED THEE!? HOW CAN WE SATISFY YOUR APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION????? YOUR HUNGER IS INSATIABLE, COLUMBIA
@if this pertains to you... my information was part of that. and i am currently in a witness protection program as part of an ongoing investigation and we know for a fact there were people trying to get our info.
if you’re reading this, please know that we are coming after you. you will be behind bars soon enough :)
@Anonymous Honestly having used a bunch of corporate networks I’m pretty impressed by CUIT. NINJa is a solid printing system, and the secure wifi is honestly quite impressive considering the density, age, and size of our campus. CubMail may be subpar, but they’ve offered forwarding for years and are rolling out LionMail.
Obviously compromising 3500 SSNs is unacceptable, but let’s not pretend that CUIT is some terrible organization of incompetence. There are plenty of aspects of Columbia that deserve that, but I’m not convinced CUIT is one.
@Anonymous The secure wifi is a joke. When I can connect, I am constantly getting dropped on my phone, tablet and laptop. The unsecure wifi doesn’t even work in the ee lounge in mudd.
@i second that emotion i don’t think i’ve ever been connected to the secure wifi for more than 45 seconds at one time
@MyLifeIsColumbia Typical shitty administration fucking everything up. Hell get some fucken grad students to secure our networks they are most likely more qualified then whoever the fuck messed up and they will do it for free or minimum wage (as long as they can write it on their resume). Honestly as a junior comp sci major I am 100% sure I could handle this and I would never fuck up this badly at something so huge.
@Anonymous Youre a junior comp sci major too? Are you in networks or
Quantum computing with me?
@MyLifeIsColumbia Jimmy is that you? It has been so long I thought I would never see you again!
@MyLifeIsColumbia JIMMY?? WHY WONT YOU ANSWER ME !!!
@Anonymous Protip: in Firefox (later versions), right click, choose Inspect Element, and click the 3D button at the bottom bar. Is so cooooooooool!
@wow not having a good day, are we Columbia?
@gs '12 i remember when cuit refused to help me when i had a serious hard disc crash – the guy told me to go to radio shack.
now i understand what they do to earn their paycheck
@Anonymous you’ve got to be fucking kidding me
@OH FUCK ……
no wait. i graduated.
@Anonymous Nice try, CUIT. Financial Aid cleared out that bank account years ago.
@Anonymous wtf? postal mail?
@It's a safety measure To make sure they don’t accidentally send out everyone’s SSNs
@Anonymous At least it’s not Twitter.