If you don't think IT support is an issue in Higher education institutions, you should check out the recent article in University Business entitled, "Are You Protected Against Hackers and Attackers?" From the article:

"Higher ed networks are under attack. Hackers want to break into
higher ed databases, sometimes to maliciously flitch the identities of
students, alumni and staff, sometimes to use universities'
servers--which typically run at high speeds--as efficient launchpads
for spam, virus and worm attacks on other servers. Sometimes stolen
high-speed bandwidth is used for illegal movie downloads, or high-speed
transfer of personal data. Alarmingly, some hackers are tuition-paying
students who crack the cybersecurity code just to prove they can."

And the article talks about identity theft in higher education institutions:

"The Office of Privacy Protection in Sacramento, Calif., reports that
incidents at California IHEs accounted for close to 30 percent of all
security breaches since 2003. The percentage is highest for higher
ed--even greater than the percentage for financial institutions. The
motive for many breaches is identity theft. According to a 2003 survey
of the Federal Trade Commission, 10 million Americans already have been
victims of identity theft at a total estimated loss of $5 billion. U.S.
corporations have been hit with $47.6 billion in damages. The cost
specifically to higher ed is unknown."

With a sector that is under such a wide range of attacks, it is no doubt that IT service and support plays a key role in serving legitimate users and filtering out the illegitimate. Where can professionals in the sector turn to discuss the latest issues going on in higher education IT service and support? It turns out that HDI, is conducting quarterly Higher Education Forums.

Higher Education Forum events are not everyday events. Participation is generally limited 20-25 executives, directors, and senior support managers within the higher education sector. Topics at each Forum are decided by Forum participants.

Example benefits of the forums include:

• World-class presenters


• Focused and in-depth coverage of topics


• Motivation and challenge from peers


• Benchmark and best practice ideas


• Year-round personal executive advisory board and networking

As a special note about HDI membership, you may join today to receive a special promotional
package that includes a Gold HDI Membership,
an HDM Online Certification training class,
plus a test voucher,
a site certification self-evaluation,
and an ITIM conference pass for $1,795 (a $2624 value). This promo runs through June 30, 2005.

Steve Shu