If you have used the wifi network at the New York City College of Technology over the last three years, then you are aware of the many “safeguards”. The speed is abysmal, you cannot download a .torrent file, and you could only log in on one laptop at a time. I have even had to complain about not being able to check my Gmail account with my preferred email client (Thunderbird), yet I could check my Hotmail account through Outlook Express. That was two years ago. Last year brought fewer access points, worse network connectivity and reliability, and slower speeds. And now, we have spyware!
Just because it is named for a tropical island in the Caribbean, doesn't mean that Aruba is good. Based on my initial impression, this new system seemed even more inconvenient than the old log in page, but further probing revealed that Aruba is spyware.
What is spyware? Spyware is a combination of the words spy and software. Spyware, as defined by Steve Gibson (the security researcher who coined the term), is software that infiltrates your computer, looking for information. The way you get infected with spyware is very easy; you can open a malicious email attachment, you can visit a malicious website, or you can allow CityTech's wifi network to run its Aruba software on your computer.
What exactly does Aruba do? Well, based on my observations and tests, Aruba scans through your computer to determine if you have the latest Windows updates, an updated anti-virus program, a specific version of the lsb package and who knows what else. What? IT SCANS YOUR COMPUTER! That sounds a lot like spyware to me. After scanning your computer, it will determine whether or not you are worthy of using the network, based on its findings. There are several reasons a computer may not meet Aruba's approval, a pirated copy of Windows, a conscious choice to not use an anti-virus program, or a Linux distribution that does not have/use/follow the Linux standard base (yes, they even have a bash script that searches your Linux system).
The obvious flaws and waste of money on the implementation of Aruba aside, I want to point out to the administration, the IT department, and to you students that while the wifi network belongs to CityTech, students' computers. I could argue that the wifi network was paid for and is being maintained by tax dollars and outrageous tuition and/or Technology fees, but that would only serve to distract from the real issue, which is that CityTech is attempting to (and to a certain extent succeeding in) tell adult owners of computers what software must be on their computers, in order to access a resource that they are paying for. Unless CityTech is giving computers away to its students (I'd like one), those computers belong to the people who paid for them; as such, what software they choose to run, how often they choose to update it, and which application they choose to check their email are decisions that are the right of the computer owners, not CityTech.
I know what the IT department's response will be. “We have to (have the right to) control/monitor our network.” Fine, but what right do you have to tell me what I can do with my computer and a college resource that I paid for? Does the Department of Transportation have the right to tell me what kind of gas to put in my car, before I can drive on a highway that I pay for? Well, I'm waiting. Maybe they can explain what grants them the right to search through my computer for anything? Again, the operative words are “my computer”!
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