VOL. CXXXIII NO. 7
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2021
CLAREMONT, CA
CMC responds to attempted ransomware attack LUCIA STEIN Claremont McKenna College was hit with the first stage of a ransomware attack on Oct. 30. According to CMC spokesperson Gilien Silsby, the college became aware of the intrusion early Saturday afternoon. The attack progressed to the first stage of the cyberattack life cycle, out of seven potential stages, before students were warned. The attack consisted of “a known ransomware command and control server … scanning CMC’s network,” Silsby said in an email to TSL. “Saturday’s event did not go past the first stage of reconnaissance because CMC’s firewall blocked the scan,” she said. In response to the suspicious scan, the CMC IT team embarked on discovery processes as well as defensive activities as a precautionary measure. “The discovery process involved review of SOC [security operations center] data and analysis of targeted systems,” Silsby said, adding that this defense included temporarily disconnecting those targeted systems from the CMC network. After about two hours, the IT team found that all efforts at connection by the ransomware had
been blocked. “At no time was CMC’s network, systems or student computers in danger of being infected with ransomware,” Silsby said. C MC st ude nt s r e c eived emails around 2:00 p.m. Saturday alerting them to the attack, which at that time was still underway. “Please be very careful about the links, websites, emails, etc. that you click and visit,” an email to students sent by the resident tech assistants of Crown Hall advised. Another email sent later in the hour provided a little more detail. The RTAs advised students to store any critical data they did not want to lose from their computers onto Box, the storage platform used by the 5Cs, and instructed students to unplug any Ethernet cables. The email additionally reminded students to be wary of links received through social media. By 3:55 p.m., Crown Hall residents received a third email which alerted them that the attack was over. “There is no risk to your machines and you can now reconnect to the network,” students were told.
JUSTIN SLEPPY • THE STUDENT LIFE
Diwali brings light to the 7Cs The Claremont Colleges Hindu Society rang in Diwali Thursday night with an outdoor celebration on Tenth Street, featuring dancing, rangoli and a performance by Claremont Tamasha.
Broken Silence and Nobody Fails at CMC expand on efforts
SCAMFest postponed to spring Finances, health rules complicate an already challenging semester for 5C a cappella groups MARIANA DURAN While students grew accustomed to coronavirus-related cancellations after a year of remote learning, few were expecting this fall’s Southern California A Cappella Music Festival to become one of the pandemic’s victims. But event cancellations, testing requirements and other public health guidelines in flux have posed significant issues for 5C a cappella groups in recent weeks. Each fall semester, the Claremont Shades host SCAMFest, where a cappella groups from the 5Cs and other universities from around Southern California participate in a concert at Pomona College’s Bridges Auditorium. The Shades had planned to bring the event back for the first
time since the onset of the pandemic, with SCAMFest originally set to happen on Nov. 6. Three off-campus groups had confirmed their attendance and the seven 5C a cappella groups were hard at work developing their set lists during practice. But on Oct. 24, two weeks before the event was set to take place, the Shades informed participating groups that SCAMFest would be pushed to the spring. The decision, according to Jay Scott PO ’22, the Claremont Shades’ president, was not taken lightly. “I care a lot about organizing SCAMFest and us doing SCAMFest,” Scott said. “It’s definitely really important to members of the group.” On Oct. 21, Scott met with
Smith Campus Center assistant director John Lopes and with Bridges manager Sharon Ku h n , who r e c om me nde d postponing SCAMFest to the spring semester. According to Scott, Lopes and Kuhn told them that the Shades would have more support from the administration in the spring when pandemic condit ions might be better. “They just very strongly encouraged us to do it in the spring, and doing an event without their support would have been fairly diffic ult,” Scott said. Lopes told TSL that he “had very little to do with the decision” and that it was “entirely
CLARE MARTIN • THE STUDENT LIFE
See SCAMFEST on page 3 ELINA LINGAPPA & ABBY PORTER
ANNA CHOI • THE STUDENT LIFE
Rinny Williamson SC ‘23 practices a solo at a Ninth Street Hooligans rehearsal Thursday night. The Hooligans will perform with other 5C a cappella groups at Saturday’s FallCappella event.
This piece is the third in a series on mutual aid groups at the 5Cs. What does it mean to pledge that nobody fails at Claremont McKenna College? For Brooklyn Montgomery CM ’22, t hat quest ion first came up when Nobody Fails at CMC began petitioning for pass/fail grading at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020. It wasn’t just about grades, the group discovered. “T h roug hout t he whole campaign, we got 60 to 100 student testimonies of how terrible their situations were, essentially. A lot of them were struggling financially because a family member had lost their job,” Montgomery said. T he goa l of s upp or t i ng students beyond academics continued throughout the pandemic and after the transition to campus, focused on filling t he gap bet ween st udents’ needs and the lack of resources
provided by their institutions. Montgomery attributes much of NFACMC’s success to the way it makes aid accessible. “Something we’ve really tried to embody is not having too many requirements. When students apply, we have a form that they fill out with generally what they need it for,” she said. “But we kind of have an honor code where if you need that money, you need it.” The group set up a form where students could request aid and ended up fulfilling all 30 student requests they received, raising more than $45,000 through GoFundMe and Venmo during the spring 2021 semester. Montgomery said that NFACMC also reached out to alumni and created an ongoing social media campaign to solicit donations. “It’s really about just targeting any population that’s relevant and asking them to help in any way they can,” she said. But as last semester progressed, subsequent events called for further student organizing.
See AID on page 2
SAMSON ZHANG • THE STUDENT LIFE
ARTS & CULTURE How far would you go in the name of love? The student-produced play “Alice Won’t Die” explored this question, following the story of two assassins with an intricate, passion-filled past. Read more on page 4.
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OPINIONS
SPORTS
Fighting climate change requires reckoning with how our colleges are invested in fossil fuel projects that threaten Indigenous land rights, argues guest columnist Ethan Vitaz PZ ‘22. Read more on page 8.
After only being limited to practices at home over the summer, the Claremont Ultimate Frisbee teams are looking forward to participating in tournaments following the loosening of restrictions. Read more on page 10.
INDEX: News 1 | Arts & Culture 4 | Opinions 7 | Sports 9