Skip to Navigation
University of Pittsburgh
Print This Page Print this pages

May 3, 2012

New cyberthreat against Pitt issued on YouTube

A new cyberthreat against Pitt has been received — this time in the form of a YouTube video, purportedly from the activist group Anonymous. Pitt Police Chief Timothy Delaney said it’s unclear whether the video, which makes no reference to the recent campus bomb threats, is connected.

The video, “Anonymous Message to the University of Pittsburgh,” posted on April 26 by AnonOperative13, features imagery associated with Anonymous, including the iconic suit without a head as well as individuals in business suits wearing Guy Fawkes masks.

In an electronic voice, the video message — directed to the University’s “CS department and Law department” — accuses Pitt of failing to protect students’ personal electronic information and threatens to release faculty and student information.

The video claimed Anonymous had gained access to data including students’ usernames and passwords, email addresses, dorm room information, parental information, course information and payment information, including credit card information. It also claimed to have instructors’ data, including access to coursework and grades.

The video demands that Pitt post an apology to students, professors and law enforcement on its home page for no fewer than 15 days, threatening to “release the information as we see fit” if the demand is not met. The legitimacy of the threat has been questioned, not solely in critical comments posted in response to the YouTube video.

Robert Hill, vice chancellor for Public Affairs, said, “The University examined its systems. There is no evidence of a breach. I have no additional comment.”

Computer science (CS) department faculty member Alexandros Labrinidis, co-chair of the University Senate computer usage committee, pointed out the author’s apparent unfamiliarity with Pitt, noting that CS is an academic unit, separate from Computing Services and Systems Development, or CSSD, which is in charge of the University’s computer systems.

Critics likewise have pointed out that Pitt has no law “department” although it has a School of Law and the Office of General Counsel, which provides legal services to the University.

The video stated that the group had “access to the ‘Hydrogen’ server and have helped ourselves to save over 200 gigabytes of information,” a contention Labrinidis disputed. He said CS does not keep the types of sensitive student information mentioned in the message, and if the department did, it would not be on the Hydrogen server, which is used by students for class projects.

Labrinidis added that a review of server logs indicated that there was less than 200 gigabytes  —the equivalent of 50 DVDs worth of data — in total traffic on that server in recent months.

—Kimberly K. Barlow


Leave a Reply