U. shuts down Penn InTouch

After only two weeks on line, Penn InTouch has been removed from the Internet indefinitely. Penn InTouch was created in order to allow students to access their transcripts, financial information and course schedules by entering their student identification numbers and personal access codes on the World Wide Web. But over the weekend, Netscape, the University's supported Web browser, announced a potential security leak in its encryption system. The system is used on transfers involving sensitive materials, including credit card numbers and student records. Information Security Officer David Millar said the Registrar's Office and Student Financial Services decided to take Penn InTouch off line "until the University has had the opportunity to evaluate Netscape's solution to the problem." Millar added that Penn InTouch is probably the only University system which will be affected by the security breach. "We are aware of no other campus information service which depends upon the compromised Netscape encryption scheme," he explained. However, campus officials recommend that students exercise caution when going anywhere else on the Web. "The Penn community is advised?that all uses of Netscape for secure transactions?elsewhere on the Internet are also compromised until Netscape solves the problem," Millar said in a statement. Secure transactions are denoted by an unbroken skeleton key icon in the lower left corner of the Netscape window and a solid blue line above the Web page. Netscape announced it would release a fixed version of its software next week. University officials said if the new version is sufficient, they will begin the process of putting Penn InTouch back on line. At that time, students wishing to use Penn InTouch or any other Web function utilizing secure transmissions will be required to obtain and install the revised copy of Netscape. The new software will be available on campus FTP and AppleShare servers. For information about Penn InTouch and updates concerning Netscape, Millar said to consult the Penn computing Web page at "http://www.upenn.edu/computing".

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