THE GAZETTE
Page A-4
Wednesday, February 26, 2014 d
AROUND THE COUNTY
Data breaches may become more common Systems like University of Maryland’s ‘are constantly targeted’ n
BY RYAN MARSHALL AND LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITERS
As authorities at the University of Maryland continue to investigate a data breach that compromised the personal information of more than 300,000 records of students, faculty and alumni, state officials are concerned that such incidents won’t stop anytime soon. The incident, which university President Wallace D. Loh described in a Feb. 19 letter to students, parents and others as a “sophisticated computer security attack,” compromised a database kept by the school’s information technology department that contained 309,079 records containing the names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth and university identification numbers of students, faculty and alumni who had been issued university identification cards since 1998. The breach came on the same day Gov. Martin J. O’Malley (D), U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D) and Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) signed an agreement that will help solidify the county’s plans to build the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence in Rockville. State and federal law enforcement agencies are investigating the cause of the breach, Loh’s letter said. Max Milien, a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, said the agency is involved in the investigation. The school had no new information to report Thursday, said spokeswoman Pam Lloyd. Joe Bucci, director of marketing and communications for The Universities at Shady Grove, said Thursday that the campus has about 1,440 University of Maryland, College Park, undergraduate and graduate students as well as about 150 to 200 College Park faculty and staff who were affected by the breach. Other affected people include undergraduate students enrolled in
Silver Spring man is found dead at home n
Officials releasing few details of incident BY
SYLVIA CARIGNAN STAFF WRITER
A Silver Spring man found dead in his home Thursday has become Montgomery County’s seventh homicide victim this year. Shortly after 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, Montgomery County police responded to a call for a home in the 2000 block of Hanover Street in Silver Spring. According to police, a co-worker had gone to the home to check on 65-year-old Phillip F. Welsh, Jr. after he failed to come to work that day. Welsh was a Barwood taxi dispatcher, according to a statement from the Kensington-based company. “A veteran employee, Phil, as we called him, started working for Barwood in 1971, and was loved by all employees,” according to the statement. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has ruled Welsh’s death a homicide, but could not comment on the circumstances surrounding Welsh’s death. There were eight criminal homicides in the county in 2013, down from 14 in 2012 and 19 in 2005, the earliest data available online from police, The Gazette previously reported. Montgomery County Police spokeswoman Rebecca Innocenti said the homicide in Silver Spring was the seventh homicide in the county this year. Police have not yet identified any suspects.
The University of Maryland campus in College Park. programs at Shady Grove from Towson University; the University of Baltimore; the University of Maryland, Baltimore; the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; and the University of Maryland, Eastern Shore. Shady Grove officials think that about 2,600 undergraduate students — both currently enrolled and former students — who participated in the five university programs at the campus were affected, Bucci said. Bucci said these students were affected because the campus issued them Shady Grove IDs, which were in the same database that held the College Park IDs. The Shady Grove campus does not issue IDs to graduate students. “We’re still trying to get a handle on exactly how many [affected people] there are,” he said. “It goes back to the inception of [The Universities at Shady Grove in 2000].” It’s hard to judge how sophisticated the University of Maryland attack was because of how little information is publicly known, said Chris Ensey, COO of Dunbar Digital Armor, a Hunt Valley cybersecurity firm. But he said collections of student data are rich with personal information that make them regular targets for hackers. Many students have shorter credit histories that make it easier to use the information to open new lines of credit, Ensey said. “University systems are con-
GREG DOHLER/THE GAZETTE
stantly targeted,” he said. Donna Schena, interim vice president of instructional and information technology and chief information officer for Montgomery College, said the college uses a “multi-pronged approach” to prevent security hacks into personal information. “The threat is constant and the diligence, therefore, has to be constant,” she said. Strategies include technology that watches for and intervenes with threats, physical security for buildings and machines, and managing access to the college’s computer technology and resources, she said. Schena said the college also works hard to educate its students and staff about information security. Patrick Feehan, director of IT privacy and cybersecurity compliance at Montgomery College, described the college as working in “a constant circle of change” when it comes to preparing against virtual security threats. “We’re in a quickly evolving landscape as the world gets more wired,” he said. “We’re constantly having to update how we view threats and how we view vulnerabilities.” The Washington Post reported the breach took place at 4 a.m. on Feb. 18. Hours later, the officials inked the plans for the cybersecurity center. County officials have said they
believe the facility will make the county a national center for the cybersecurity industry. These types of breaches are why the state, as an institution, is focused on cybersecurity, said Sen. James C. Rosapepe. “It’s not a problem that will go away,” said Rosapepe (D-Dist. 21) of College Park. He said the latest breach is a dramatic example of the opportunity Maryland has to develop its cybersecurity sector. A September 2012 audit by the state’s Office of Legislative Audits revealed that the Department of Information Technology hadn’t created a way to monitor and enforce its Information Security Policy even though Maryland law made it responsible for enforcing the policies, procedures and standards for state agencies. The department’s policy shifted responsibility to each state agency to make sure it was complying with the information technology department’s policy. The report revealed that state agencies weren’t required to share the same amount of information about data breaches as private entities, said Tim Brooks, director of performance audits for the Office of Legislative Audits. Since the audit was done, the General Assembly has passed a law that state agencies would be bound by similar requirements as private companies for the security and encryption of information and to notify the Attorney General’s office, Department of Information Technology and any people affected by a breach, he said. Since the report, information security assessments are included as part of each state agency’s fiscal compliance audit that is done every three years, he said. Agencies and private companies both have to always be vigilant to look for signs that data has been compromised, Brooks said. “It’s a constant battle. It requires constant surveillance,” he said. Staff Writer Kate S. Alexander contributed to this report.
Snow removal generates council discussion Concerns raised about clearing snow on Capital Crescent Trail
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BY
RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
Nearly two weeks after Montgomery County’s biggest snowfall of the year, the issue of how to remove all that snow continues to generate discussion among the Montgomery County Council. Councilman Hans Riemer is trying to gather support among his colleagues for a proposal to improve the county’s plans for removing snow from sidewalks after winter storms. “We have a very robust snow plow operation that clears the roads very efficiently, and our superb highway team is always working to improve its performance,” Riemer (D-At Large) of Takoma Park wrote in a letter to other council members. “However, we do not have a sufficient plan or policies in place to meet the challenge of removing snow from sidewalks and pedestrian crossings.” Riemer’s plan would require the county’s Department of Transportation to create a “Sidewalk Snow Removal Plan” to include the following: • A map to show who is responsible for clearing snow on all sidewalks in the county. • A communications plan of steps to be implemented for snowstorms. • An educational campaign to make property owners aware of where they are responsible for clearing sidewalks. • Plans for county removal of
snow from bus stops and Metro stations, near schools, along state highways, and along high-priority pedestrian routes. • Increased enforcement against property owners who don’t clear their sidewalks. • Plans to prioritize the clearing of hiking and biking trails after a storm. Riemer said he wants to look at what it would take in regards to education, enforcement or the county stepping in to get people in problem areas to clear their sidewalks. County law requires residents and business owners to clear the sidewalks in front of their properties within 24 hours after a storm. In the letter to his fellow council members, Riemer said that while he recognizes winter storms already create a large expense for the county, making sure sidewalks are clear is also vital to the county’s interests. “Clearing the roads is a critical mission, but ensuring that all residents have mobility after storm events is the real goal. We should not be satisfied with finishing part of the job,” he wrote. The Feb. 13 storm dumped anywhere from a foot to more than two feet of snow on communities around the county. Council President Craig L. Rice (D-Dist. 2) of Germantown faced questions from reporters Monday about the county’s response to the storm. Rice said he’s not sure there is a problem with the county’s snow removal process, noting that every other jurisdiction in the Washington, D.C. area struggled with snow removal during the storm. Rice called the storm an “anomaly” and said he’s not sure the
county should set its policies based on an event that may only happen every few years. He said the problems highlighted by the storm may warrant a campaign to educate people on what the laws are for snow removal, and urged county residents to help clear snow from property owned by residents who are elderly or otherwise unable to remove the snow themselves. Meanwhile, Riemer was one of five council members who signed a letter from Councilman Roger Berliner (D-Dist. 1) of Bethesda to the directors of the county’s parks and transportation departments. The letter asked Mary Bradford, director of the Department of Parks for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission and Arthur Holmes, director of the county’s Department of Transportation, to prepare an estimate on what it would cost to remove snow and provide winter maintenance on the Capital Crescent Trail that runs from the Washington, D.C., border through Bethesda and into Silver Spring. “The condition of the Capital Crescent Trail and its lack of maintenance following snow events is an issue of great concern to our residents who rely on our trail infrastructure for commuting purposes,” Berliner wrote. The letter was also signed by Riemer, Council Vice President George Leventhal (D-At Large) of Takoma Park, Councilman Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaithersburg and Coucilwoman Cherri Branson (D-Dist. 5) of Silver Spring. While the trail is used by many residents for recreation, it also serves as a commuter route for people to get to work, Berliner wrote.
InBrief
Gardening in a shifting climate How will climate change affect your garden? Brookside Gardens will host a Green Matters Symposium from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday on how to adapt gardening to different climate conditions. Speakers will discuss temperature and pests, public gardens, energy and farming methods. The talk will be at Manor Country Club, 14901 Carrolton Road, Rockville. The cost is $89. More information is at montgomeryparks.org/brookside.
Divorce seminars start Tuesday Divorce 101 is a six-week series of public education seminars to help people with the early stages of divorce. The program runs from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through April 8 at the Montgomery County Bar Foundation, 27 W. Jefferson St., Rockville. The cost is $10 per session or $50 for all six, payable at the door. The sessions will be conducted by lawyers, counselors and financial advisers on topics such as basic law, approaches to divorce, financial considerations and finding support. Light refreshments will be served. The program is sponsored by New Beginnings, the Collaborative Practice Center of Montgomery County and the bar foundation. Registration is required. For more information, contact Carol Randolph, founder and president of New Beginnings, at NewBCarol@verizon.net or 301-924-4101.
County seeks a couple of willing farmers Montgomery County is seeking two county farmers to serve on its seven-member Rustic Roads Advisory Committee. The committee’s duties include promoting public awareness of the Rustic Roads Program, plus reviewing and commenting on the classification of rustic roads; development proposals that affect rustic roads; and executive regulations and policies that may affect the program, according to a county news release. To be eligible, candidates must be owner-operators of commercial farmland in the county, earning at least of their income from farming. One must be a representative of the county’s Agricultural Advisory Committee. Members serve three-year terms without compensation, but can be reimbursed for travel and dependent care for meetings attended. The committee meets at least six times a year; usually on the fourth Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the Executive Office Building in Rockville.
POLICE BLOTTER
Complete report at www.gazette.net The following is a summary of incidents in the Damascus area to which Montgomery County police responded recently. The words “arrested” and “charged” do not imply guilt. This information was provided by the county.
Bank Robbery • On Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. at TD Bank, 19905 Century Blvd., Germantown. Strong-Arm Robbery • On Feb. 11 at 3:30 p.m. in the 18800 block of Coral Grove Terrace, Germantown. The subjects assaulted the victim and took property. Aggravated Assault • On Feb. 2 at 4:30 a.m. in the 12500 block of Horseshoe Bend Circle, Clarksburg. The subject is known to the victim. Commercial Burglary • On Feb. 11 at Bethesda Methodist Church, 11901 Bethesda Church Road, Damascus. Residential Burglary • 13000 block of Town Commons Drive, Germantown, at 4:15 p.m. Jan. 30. No forced entry, took nothing. • 9000 block of Goshen Valley Drive, Gaithersburg, between 8 p.m. Jan. 28 and 7:45 p.m. Jan. 30. Forced entry, unknown if anything was taken. • 11800 block of Eton Manor Drive, Germantown, between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. Jan. 31. No forced entry, took property. • 13800 block of Rockingham Road, Darnestown, between 12:30 and 3:10 a.m. Feb. 3. Forced entry, took property. • 13300 block of Country Ridge Drive, Germantown, between noon Feb. 5 and 9:30 p.m. Feb. 6. Forced entry, took property. • 15100 block of Barnesville Road, Boyds, between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Feb. 10. Attempted forced entry, took nothing. • 20500 block of Farcroft Lane, Laytonsville, on Feb. 11. No forced entry, unknown what was taken. • 13000 block of Prices Distillery Road, Clarksburg, between 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Feb. 11. No forced entry, took property.
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