While cyber-bullying is a huge problem at universities nationwide, the cyber-bullying trend has yet to truly muscle its way onto the Norwich University campus, according to the university’s chief information security officer.
“Do we have it? You bet we do,” said Dr. Peter Stephenson, the chief information security officer on campus. “But not to the extent that I’ve seen in other places and certainly not to the extent of the outside world.”
Norwich actively uses every tool at its disposal to prevent, investigate and stop cyber-bullying. The university is fully equipped to track abusive behavior and protect victims, according to Stephenson.
nd would sacrifice their “personal honor” to do so.
While some students would be unwilling to divulge information, there is no escaping the science of computer and network forensics.
Stephenson describes computer forensics as investigating the contents of an individual’s computer, which he can work on his own, while network forensics includes the cooperation of the network security engineer and the data captured by university’s information technology office.
Stephenson recalls a case where a student was accused by his roommate of downloading child pornography. After further investigation, it was proved that the student was innocent of the charges. It turned out the roommate had a “vendetta” against the accused.
“The forensics on the accused computer proved that it was an absolute lie,” Stephenson said, “the accused was totally innocent.” The student was “fully exonerated” of the charge.
As for the roommate, “(He) turned out to be engaging in activities that we probably wouldn’t appreciate, though not child pornography, and he was dismissed from the university for lying,” Stephenson said.
The accused was able to be exonerated through the process of elimination and science. According to Stephenson, “If the evidence isn’t there, then the evidence isn’t there.”
As for the “checks and balances,” Stephenson states, “I can’t walk into your dorm room and take out your computer. I have to go through a procedure.” In order for a computer or data to be seized, Stephenson has to go through the vice-president of technology, Frank Vanecek.
Stephenson has to provide Vanecek with legitimate reasons as to why he needs the requested information or the search has to be requested by the commandant’s office or by the university’s president. Stephenson said that in the last two years, he has only had to seize four computers.
Stephenson said that considering the number of students at Norwich, that number is at the “very minimum.”
Norwich also provides its students with administrative and emotional support in cases of cyber-bullying. According to Vivian Luna, the Equal Opportunity and Employee Relations Coordinator is a great resource for help and support.
“The first order of business is finding out who this person (the bully) is.” Luna said, “With regular harassment, you know the person doing it.”
Cyber-bullying presents a challenge to her office due to the covert world of the internet. “A lot of times people are hiding behind the veil of cyberspace and they are harassing and stalking individuals and you don’t know who it is or where it’s coming from,” said Luna.
When Luna is faced with cases of cyber-bullying, her office turns to Stephenson’s expertise in computers and works “hand-in-hand” with the university’s computer specialist.
I t is important for Luna to identify the bully, since without knowing who the person is, her office “can’t do anything about it.”
Luna also stresses the support that the university offers its students. Norwich provides free counseling to students and the executive director of the Sexual Assault Crisis Team of Washington County, Bobby Gagne, is also available to students 24 hours a day.
The university also takes preventative measures when new students arrive on campus.
“During orientation for rooks and the civilians definitely there is a lot of talk about what constitutes harassment,” Luna said. She also explains to students that not only can harassment take place in person, but students who harass others online are also in violation of harassment policies.
According to Luna, “When we find out that you are treating people disrespectfully or discriminatorily then that is a violation, even if it is through the internet. So the students are on notice that this is not acceptable behavior.”
It appears the message about the damaging effects of cyber-bullying has been taken to heart by students.
Ben Cottrell, a 19-year-old sophomore communications major from Annapolis, Md., has yet to know of someone who has been cyber-bullied on campus and is aware of what he should do in case it happens to him.
“I feel like common sense would say that you go to the commandant. You would go to your cadre as a freshman, a resident advisor (RA) as a civilian or maybe just go to the IT department,” said Cottrell, adding that anyone who is “in charge and could do something about it.”
John P. Quinlan, a 22-year-old communications major from Manasquan, N.J., agrees that contacting cadre, an RA or the commandant’s office is the right move.
Quinlan, who is also aware of the monitoring policies at the university, had this advice for students who use the internet for nefarious reasons: “If it’s bad, just don’t do it.”
“If someone I knew were to do it (bullying), I’d tell them not to do it, because you can get in trouble,” said Quinlan.
Students are also aware of the emotional and psychological toll that cyber-bullying could have on its victims.
Kyle Rau, a 20-year-old sophomore history major from Milwaukee, Wis., said, “I believe that it could a very damaging thing (cyber bullying), because of social networking,” and that “some people really take those things to heart.”
Cottrell also touched on a very important issue of cyber-bullying, “These things can be seen by other people,” Cottrell said, “Everyone can read these things. When things are posted in the internet, it is there forever, that includes pictures and writings.”
While Rau was unaware of who to turn to if he were to be cyber-bullied, he did state that he would speak to someone he trusted and in position of authority, “The first place I would go to would be my advisor.” Rau said.
If students are experiencing emotional distress over cyber-bullying and need someone to turn to, Stephenson highly recommends that students speak with the university chaplain, Reverend William Wick.
“The reverend is really a great listener and he always has good common sense advice and can help,” said Stephenson, “I don’t care what religion you are, up to including no religion, the reverend will be helpful.” Stephenson also praised Wick’s sensitivity with students and that Wick “understands the emotions that victims go through.”
Luna also recommends Wick’s services. “The chaplain is available for the students all the time,”
“We have extremely good tools for capturing everything that goes on online here, and I mean absolutely everything,” Stephenson said, “We can go find information very readily, so if anybody does something over our network, whether it’s the wired network or the wireless network, we can find it.”
Along with the tools necessary to conduct an investigation, the university will subpoena e-mail providers and social networks, like Facebook, to gain the needed information. The university’s lawyer will write the subpoena and provide the exact information needed to continue with an investigation.
A cyber-bully, if reported to the right people, has nowhere to hide.
According to Stephenson, “Under the university security policy, nobody, not faculty, not staff, not a student has an inherent right of privacy.” He continued, “[The] university can seize any computer they wished, even if it belongs to you personally.”
However, Stephenson points out that these policies are for the protection of the students and these measures are not taken without “checks and balances.”
According to Stephenson, cyber-bullying is just a form of bullying. However, this method of bullying is taking place through the “virtual media” as opposed to physical bullying, and it can take different paths: through e-mail, Facebook, Twitter or through a person’s personal website.
“Cyber-bullying is most dangerous when it’s persistent, because it has the same effects of physical bullying,” according to Stephenson. “The constant repetition plays on the victim’s self-esteem, and in its extreme there are cases where the victims have committed suicide, and in fact, there’s some recent cases where that’s exactly what happened.”
Cyber-bullying can be so damaging to its victim because of the psychological tactics used by the agressor. Bullies often attack their victims’ self-esteem, race, ethnicity, religion and sexual preference; all these factors get “magnified by cyber-bullying.”
While extreme cyber-bullying is rare on the Norwich campus, it is an issue that does come across Stephenson’s desk. He recalls an incident in which a student made racist remarks on the Facebook page referring to an international student, a situation that Stephenson said was quickly resolved.
There are several steps that are taken to track abusive behavior online. The first is through investigations and interrogations; the second is through computer forensics.
Stephenson explained the differences between an interrogation and an interview. According to Stephenson, an interrogation is used to “gain an admission,” and an interview is to “gain information.”
He also noted the code of silence that some students take in order to protect others. Students are often reluctant to come forward with information in order to remain loyal