Josh O'Connell focuses on the colleges and universities that are within the region: Fairfield, SHU, Housatonic (when he can), Quinnipiac, Yale and UNH. He talks to students attending colleges in the area to see what everyone's talking about that might not be newsworthy for the college papers, but students care about. He can be reached at thebuzz@ctpost.com

May 30, 2006

ID theft at Sacred Heart

It's been happening at colleges across the country, and it's hit Sacred Heart. Hackers were able to penetrate SHU's servers and access current and prospective student information, past and present. Information like social security numbers and credit card numbers are at risk. A friend of mine who attended Sacred Heart had her Discover card compromised as a result of the intrusion, so the risk is very real.

Many college students aren't very proactive in monitoring their credit, but it's good to note some ways to protect your indentity and, by proxy, your credit score:

--Take advantage of the ability to receive a free credit report from comapnies when your credit is checked, or the new government-required program that allows you to get a free copy of your credit report from the major agencies once a year (the big three being Experian, Trans Union and Equifax).
--Sign up for a credit monitoring service. I pay $10 a month to have one of the big agencies notify me when a change has been made to my credit report, and have the ability to see what's been done. If a card is opened up under my name, I have the ability to look and be sure it's something I authorized.
--Most of all, be selective about who you give your information out to. For instance, banks will not call you or E-mail you to get your information because of a "server crash". Rest assured that they have their data backed up multiple ways. The same goes for other services. Unless you specifically are applying for a job or applying for credit (or, say, signing up for a wireless phone, which requires a credit check), you shouldn't be handing your information out to anyone.

Here's the Post's info, and a good tech perspective as well.

Congratulations to all of the 2006 graduates, and have a happy and healthy summer! Hopefully we'll have some items to keep the blog warm this summer.

Posted by Josh on 9:29 AM | Comments (8)

March 12, 2006

Res halls and alcohol: this week's buzz

Spring Break is in session for many college goers during this time of year, but things are still happening around the local U's. Here's what's going on right now.

Continue reading "Res halls and alcohol: this week's buzz"

Posted by Josh on 9:16 PM | Comments (77)

March 5, 2006

Take a drive through the latest Buzz!

There's a lot of Buzz driving this week's entry, and they all seem to have a drive theme to it. I'm a sucker for theme entries, so let's take it for a spin!

Continue reading "Take a drive through the latest Buzz!"

Posted by Josh on 8:56 PM | Comments (6)