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Fraudulent activities related to the ‘stealing’ of student data

15 October 2021 | Story Department Communication and Marketing

Dear Student

Nationally, there are fraudulent activities related to the ‘stealing’ of student data enabled by

1. the sharing of student login credentials with other parties;

2. national mobile data service providers clamping down on the misuse of data allocations by universities to students; and

3. students misusing data allocations made to them.

The University of the Free State (UFS) cannot unblock you if you are blocked by a service provider for fraudulent activity.

Managing your credentials and passwords is your responsibility.

For more details, please read the following message.

Your digital identity is very important and has a very direct influence on not only your digital life, but also has a very direct influence on your private life.

The following is a more detailed explanation of this statement:

Your digital identity is the key to unlocking all forms of access to digital services such as bank accounts, access to private digital services, and access to the learning materials at the university. All of this is controlled through two very simple ‘things’, being your login code and the password attached to the specific login code.

At the point of first registration as a student, a unique student number is allocated to the student. This is a unique number that will identify you as a person throughout your academic journey and will also ‘live on’ for many years thereafter, or for as long as there is an active relationship between you and the university.

We, as the university, do not re-use these unique numbers and they are active for life. This is the manner in which the university identifies you as a unique individual and we link ALL other digital services to this number, also the provision of data to enable your academic journey.

When you lose control over your login credentials, you, personally, are immediately exposed – firstly as an adult, and secondly, in your private capacity. At this point, there is very little the UFS can do to assist you in regaining control over your digital identity.

Recently, one of the national mobile data vendors uncovered a fraudulent syndicate that purchases a student’s credentials (login code and password) and then literally takes over your private life, using your credentials to enter into agreements on your behalf, for which you are then personally accountable. Apart from the foregoing, the university’s monitoring systems also indicate that there is widespread sharing of login credentials among other students (not registered at the UFS) and also with other external parties such as friends, family, etc.

It is important to note that these activities are fraudulent by nature. As a law-abiding institution, the university is also obligated to report these activities to the South African Police Service (SAPS), which will result in an investigation aligned to criminal activities. This is not a situation where the UFS can support the implied individual; it will be a personal criminal matter. The crux of the matter is that the single student is now exposed to the full force of the law in terms of fraudulent actions, which can result in criminal cases against the student – personally.

From the perspective of the national mobile data operators, they also monitor the use and abuse of their national infrastructures and will protect their interests in this regard. In line with this, the UFS – through the GlobalProtect VPN solution – was fully in control of the allocation of pre-defined monthly data allocations to the student community and could manage students who misused the facilities internally without the national/criminal elements added to it. This is no longer the situation.

At national level, the mobile data providers do not follow a very strict regime whereby they allow the use of data up to the limits defined by each of the universities in South Africa. Once that specific level has been reached, the relevant student (customer) will be cut off at the level of the provider and will not receive any data access for the rest of that month.

Should you (as an example) be a student who allows other parties to mimic you as a registered student, your allocated data can be exhausted in a single day, leaving you stranded for the rest of that month. At that point you will then personally have to purchase additional data to enable you to engage academically with the UFS. This has a very critical spin-off effect. Students who run out of data for whatever reason, can no longer claim that the university should foot the bill for additional data, as records will show that ‘other parties’ were allowed to digitally engage with the UFS. These records are kept and can be used to support the stance of the university as a whole.

In this regard, the UFS departs from the notion that the academic programme of a student needs to be supported, where the costs of aspects such as access data is taken care of, given very specific limits imposed on the university as a whole. These aspects are directly linked to the sustainability of the ‘grant’ in terms of overall affordability, the management of the facility, and lastly, that it is used in support of the academic journey of the student. The intent here is not to provide any data for the pursuance of lifestyle matters, such as certain social media activities, etc. As far as possible, we are in constant negotiation with the Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC) to ensure that the university is in line with the specific student needs related to academic services. These are ongoing discussions where the student voice is heard and acted on.

In accordance with the foregoing, the matter is no longer in the hands of the UFS as the sole provider, but control over this is now also monitored and managed at a level where South African universities are no longer fully in charge. This is a very unfortunate matter brought about by the misuse of the facilities by certain individuals who are not interested in the well-being of our students. The situation is what it is, and as the accountable party, the UFS will continue to play a critical role in this regard.

When confronted with any matter related to the loss of data, students are invited to contact the ICT Service Desk at 051 401 2000, who will then determine if the login credentials have been shared or not, and to support the student where there are legitimate issues to be dealt with. Please note that ICT Services has very well-kept access records per student, and if there are other technical reasons why connectivity was lost, ICT Services will assist the student to regain access to the teaching and learning facilities of the UFS.

Fair to say, if any evidence exists that login credentials have been shared, it is not a typical hack event; the UFS cannot assist the student by intervening in the contract agreement with the mobile data provider on behalf of the student, as the contract holder remains the student.

News Archive

Inaugural lecture: Prof Robert Bragg, Dept. of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology

2006-05-17

Attending the inaugural lecture were in front from the left Prof Robert Bragg (lecturer at the Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology) and Frederick Fourie (Rector and Vice-Chancellor). At the back from the left were Prof James du Preez (Departmental Chairperson: Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology) and Prof Herman van Schalkwyk (Dean: Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences). Photo: Stephen Collett

A summary of an inaugural lecture delivered by Prof Robert Bragg at the University of the Free State:

CONTROL OF INFECTIOUS AVIAN DISEASES – LESSONS FOR MAN?

Prof Robert R Bragg
Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology
University of the Free State

“Many of the lessons learnt in disease control in poultry will have application on human medicine,” said Prof Robert Bragg, lecturer at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Department of Microbial, Biochemical and Food Biotechnology during his inaugural lecture.

Prof Bragg said the development of vaccines remains the main stay of disease control in humans as well as in avian species. Disease control can not rely on vaccination alone and other disease-control options must be examined.

“With the increasing problems of antibiotic resistance, the use of disinfection and bio security are becoming more important,” he said.

“Avian influenza (AI) is an example of a disease which can spread from birds to humans. Hopefully this virus will not develop human to human transmission,” said Prof Bragg.

According to Prof Bragg, South Africa is not on the migration route of water birds, which are the main transmitters of AI. “This makes South Africa one of the countries less likely to get the disease,” he said.

If the AI virus does develop human to human transmission, it could make the 1918 flu pandemic pale into insignificance. During the 1918 flu pandemic, the virus had a mortality rate of only 3%, yet more than 50 million people died.

Although the AI virus has not developed human-to-human transmission, all human cases have been related to direct contact with infected birds. The mortality rate in humans who have contracted this virus is 67%.

“Apart from the obvious fears for the human population, this virus is a very serious poultry pathogen and can cause 100% mortality in poultry populations. Poultry meat and egg production is the staple protein source in most countries around the world. The virus is currently devastating the poultry industry world-wide,” said Prof Bragg.

Prof Bragg’s research activities on avian diseases started off with the investigation of diseases in poultry. “The average life cycle of a broiler chicken is 42 days. After this short time, they are slaughtered. As a result of the short generation time in poultry, one can observe changes in microbial populations as a result of the use of vaccines, antibiotics and disinfectants,” said Prof Bragg.

“Much of my research effort has been directed towards the control of infectious coryza in layers, which is caused by the bacterium Avibacterium paragallinarum. This disease is a type of sinusitis in the layer chickens and can cause a drop in egg product of up to 40%,” said Prof Bragg.

The vaccines used around the world in an attempt to control this disease are all inactivated vaccines. One of the most important points is the selection of the correct strains of the bacterium to use in the vaccine.

Prof Bragg established that in South Africa, there are four different serovars of the bacterium and one of these, the serovar C-3 strain, was believed to be unique to Southern Africa. He also recently discovered this serovar for the first time in Israel, thus indicating that this serovar might have a wider distribution than originally believed.

Vaccines used in this country did not contain this serovar. Prof Bragg established that the long term use of vaccines not containing the local South African strain resulted in a shift in the population distribution of the pathogen.

Prof Bragg’s research activities also include disease control in parrots and pigeons. “One of the main research projects in my group is on the disease in parrots caused by the circovirus Beak and Feather Disease virus. This virus causes serious problems in the parrot breeding industry in this country. This virus is also threatening the highly endangered and endemic Cape Parrot,” said Prof Bragg.

Prof Bragg’s research group is currently working on the development of a DNA vaccine which will assist in the control of the disease, not only in the parrot breeding industry, but also to help the highly endangered Cape Parrot in its battle for survival.

“Not all of our research efforts are directed towards infectious coryza or the Beak and Feather Disease virus. One of my Masters students is currently investigating the cell receptors involved in the binding of Newcastle Disease virus to cancerous cells and normal cells of humans. This work will also eventually lead to a possible treatment of cancer in humans and will assist with the development of a recombinant vaccine for Newcastle disease virus,” said Prof Bragg.

We are also currently investigating an “unknown” virus which causes disease problems in poultry in the Western Cape,” said Prof Bragg.

“Although disinfection has been extensively used in the poultry industry, it has only been done at the pre-placement stage. In other words, disinfectants are used before the birds are placed into the house. Once the birds are placed, all use of disinfectants stops,” said Prof Bragg.

“Disinfection and bio security can be seen as the ‘Cinderella’ of disease control in poultry. This is also true for human medicine. One just has to look at the high numbers of people who die from hospital-acquired infections to realise that disinfection is not a concept which is really clear in human health care,” said Prof Bragg.

Much research has been done in the control of diseases through vaccination and through the use of antibiotics. “These pillars of disease control are, however, starting to crumble and more effort is needed on disinfection and bio security,” said Prof Bragg.

Prof Bragg has been working in close co-operation with a chemical manufacturing company in Stellenbosch to develop a unique disinfectant which his highly effective yet not toxic to the birds.

As a result of this unique product, he has developed the continual disinfection program for use in poultry. In this program the disinfectant is used throughout the production cycle of the birds. It is also used to ensure that there is excellent pre-placement disinfection.

“The program is extensively used for the control of infectious diseases in the parrot-breeding industry in South Africa and the product has been registered in 15 countries around the world with registration in the USA in the final process,” said Prof Bragg.

“Although the problem of plasmid mediated resistance to disinfectants is starting to rear its ugly head, this has allowed for the opening of a new research field which my group will hopefully exploit in the near future,” he said.

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