Straws in the Wind - Part 202

From Inside Higher Ed: Current and prospective Purdue University graduate students say the institution rejected a slew of Chinese applicants from its grad programs for this academic year. Also, one grad student says the university told grad admissions committees in the past couple of months that it’s highly unlikely to accept students from any “adversary nation” for next year. Faculty were told those countries are China, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Russia and Venezuela, said Kieran Hilmer, a teaching assistant on the leadership committee of Graduate Rights and Our Wellbeing (GROW), a group trying to unionize Purdue grad workers. That list broadly matches the commerce secretary’s catalog of foreign adversaries. Hilmer said the university conveyed this prohibition verbally. “They didn’t write any of this down,” he said.

Purdue isn’t commenting on the allegations. The university has faced scrutiny from members of Congress about its ties to China. In May, the Trump administration briefly said it would revoke Chinese students’ visas nationwide. The president has since changed his tune and said he would welcome more students from China. ...Purdue spokespeople also didn’t provide a response to the Lafayette Journal & Courier and the Exponent student newspaper when asked about this issue. The Journal & Courier, which first reported the story, cited four faculty members from “a wide range of departments” who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution from the university.

...While Purdue won’t explain what actions it’s taking or why, the U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party said in a September report that it’s been investigating Purdue and five other universities—Stanford and Carnegie Mellon Universities and the Universities of Maryland, Southern California and Illinois at Urbana-Champaign—all year “regarding the presence and research activities of Chinese national students on their campuses.” ...

Full story at https://www.insidehighered.com/news/admissions/graduate/2025/12/12/purdue-allegedly-rejecting-chinese-other-grad-students.

18 friends... But not UC

From Forbes: A group of the nation’s leading research universities has requested that a federal judge allow them to file a legal brief supporting Harvard University’s lawsuit against the Trump administration over more than $2 billion in frozen federal grant money. The 18 institutions requesting permission to file an amicus curiae (or “friend of the court”) brief are:

Boston University; Brown University; California Institute of Technology; Colorado State University; Dartmouth College; Johns Hopkins University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Michigan State University; Oregon State University; Princeton University; Rice University; Rutgers University; Tufts University; University of Maryland, College Park; University of Oregon; University of Pennsylvania; University of Pittsburgh; and Yale University.

The request was granted on Friday by Judge Allison D. Burroughs, who is presiding over the federal lawsuit. The schools have not yet filed the brief, but in their request they state that each of them “has received millions of dollars in federal investments in scientific research over the decades.” ...

Full story at https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2025/06/07/18-research-universities-back-harvards-lawsuit-against-funding-cuts/.

Radio Silence on Accellion Breach - Part 4

While radio silence from UCOP continues, we can say that there were many institutions, apart from UC, affected by the Accellion data breach. Here is a recent listing:

Australian Securities and Investments Commission

Australia’s Transport for New South Wales

Bombardier

Flagstar Bank

Jones Day Law Firm

Kroger

Qualys

Reserve Bank of New Zealand

Royal Dutch Shell

Singtel

Stanford University

Trinity Health

Radio silence continues

University of Colorado

University of Maryland, Baltimore

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Kroger Pharmacy

Health Net

Trillium Health Plan

Arizona Complete Health

Stanford Medicine 

The University of Miami Health 

Centene Corp. 

Source and full article at: https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-breaches-and-attacks/accellion-vulnerabilities-victim-list/

Data Breach - Berkeley Data Published

From Silicon Angle, 4-4-21: Three universities in the U.S. have had data stolen and published online in the latest data breaches related to a vulnerability in software from Accellion Inc.

The universities targeted were Stanford University, the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the University of California at Berkeley, with one commonality among them: The stolen data was published by the Clop ransomware gang.

The Stanford data was stolen from the university’s School of Medicine and included names, addresses, email addresses, Social Security numbers and financial information, according to an April 1 story in the Stanford Daily. The university ticked the standard responses, such as hiring a cyber forensics firm, informing those affected and contacting law enforcement. There was no mention of ransomware being involved, although it was noted that access was gained through the Accellion File Transfer Appliance vulnerability.

By comparison, the University of Maryland, Baltimore did say that it had been targeted in a ransomware attack in December, with the stolen data being published this week. The data stolen in this case included a variety of personally identifiable information, including federal tax documents, passports, addresses and Social Security numbers.

Along with informing authorities, Yahoo News reported that the university decommissioned the Accellion system in February. Unlike Stanford, the University of Maryland, Baltimore appears to be more ahead of the game when it comes to responding, already offering security assistance including credit monitoring and identity restoration services to individuals whose documents were compromised.

There is no mention of ransomware in the breach of UC Berkeley, but as opposed to the other two universities there was a twist in its story. Holders of email accounts at UC Berkeley received email messages stating that their personal data had been stolen and would be released.

The list of known victims of the vulnerable version of Accellion FTA server includes Bombardier Inc., Jones Day, the Office of the Washington State Auditor, Qualys Inc. and Royal Dutch Shell plc., among others.

“When you use third parties, you are essentially taking on the security risk of that vendor, and if the Accellion breach at Stanford and elsewhere teaches us anything, it’s to ensure your suppliers have as strong a security posture as you do,” Demi Ben-Ari, co-founder and chief technology officer at security management firm Panorays Ltd., told SiliconANGLE. “Your organization likely wouldn’t rely on end-of-life appliances with vulnerabilities, but you may be doing just that when you open your network to other companies.” ...

Full story at https://siliconangle.com/2021/04/04/data-three-universities-published-online-latest-accellion-related-data-breach/

No Tuition Reduction in Spring

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

...The University of California and California State University systems will not offer tuition reductions for the spring term, according to spokespersons. They are giving pro-rated refunds for housing and dining services..., because most students left campus for the rest of the school year.

...UC Berkeley students launched a petition of their own, gathering nearly 2,400 signatures. That petition noted the University of Maryland board of regents unanimously voted in favor of partial refunds of spring fees, in the wake of coronavirus safety measures. But the UC system has avoided a similar move, to the dismay of students such as Bradley Devlin. Devlin, a senior from Yorba Linda (Orange County) majoring in political economics, returned home to help his dad run his small business during the coronavirus crisis. Devlin pointed to the on-campus resources and professor visits not available to students the rest of the spring semester. “You’re not getting the full value of these services you’re accustomed to,” he said in a phone interview.

Full story at https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Stanford-UC-Berkeley-among-schools-still-15178236.php