This past week's security breach is not thefirst such incident at Harvard.

"This is not the first time we have had asecurity compromise along with a packet snifferinstalled on our network. We see incidents likethis occurring multiple times per year," Osterbergsaid.

According to Osterberg, the University isconsidering several "long-term" plans to bolsternetwork security. The first is "switchednetworking," a system in which every datajack iscompletely isolated from every other datajack.While this prohibits packet sniffing, it is a verycostly procedure which would require extensiverewiring of hundreds of datajacks.

The second possibility is to implement softwaremaking "encrypted networking" possible. Thissoftware would encrypt all information passingbetween a user's computer and the network. Thesoftware is expensive, however, and may be subjectto government regulations.

The last possibility is simply to educatestudents through outreach programs. These programswould specifically target students who usemulti-user programs, such as Linux, and informthem about possible security attacks. Eliotresidents were quick to praise theadministration's response to the problem.

"I'm just glad that they caught it quickly.Changing your password it is a lot better thanhaving someone use your account maliciously," saidGabrielle B. Dreyfus '01