This is an odd one. Brook Self reports:
The entire Victor Valley College Information Technology Department has been placed on paid administrative leave while campus police and an outside company investigate a breach in security protocol, President Roger Wagner said Thursday.
While emphasizing that no private student or employee information had been compromised, Wagner said what began as an administrative investigation became a police matter on Friday.
There is noting in the news report, however, that really suggests why this might be a police matter:
“We don’t have any reason to believe we’ve been hacked by outside hackers,” Wagner said. “There’s been a breach of protocol in how our internal security systems are set and who has access to our different servers and passwords. It’s an internal procedural issue. We felt it was important to put everyone on administrative leave for their protection, really, so we can track down to see if there was any internal violation.”
So I ask again: why rush to bring the police in? The college has retained a forensics firm, which is fine, but what exactly are the police supposed to be doing? The only description of the “breach” was:
Wagner said network issues first began on Monday when certain activities occurred that were “not normal.”
There’s no statement on the college’s web site that would make clear why you would bring the police in if you think this is an internal protocol issue.
Read more on Victorville Daily Press and see if you can figure this out. If you can, leave me a comment in the Comments section.
Correction: This post was initially tagged non-U.S. It is a California college.