Students at a Scottish university are eschewing crucial cybersecurity technology due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Pro-Palestine campaigners at Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) have urged students to boycott the university’s multi factor authentication system until the university drops an Israeli-linked identification software.
GCU awarded a £1.4 million contract to tech company Computacenter last autumn, which supplies the university with multi-factor authentication software — created by Israeli-American firm CyberArk.
Beth, a PhD student and the co-president of GCU’s Palestine Solidarity Society (PSS), told The Herald: “CyberArk is an Israeli company with strong ties to the IDF. We don’t believe this aligns with the common good mission of the university.
“We ultimately think it is our responsibility as students to provide the truth to all the students and staff so they can make an informed decision about whether they want to give CyberArk their information.”
Omer Grossman, CyberArk’s Chief Information Officer, served in the Israeli Defence Force for 25 years, something PSS say is unacceptable.
Ciaran, a masters student and member of PSS, added: “I don’t want my university to be affiliated with a company that has links to the IDF.
“The boycott is of the login system. We’re asking lecturers to take manual rolls, and telling students not to use your Celcat or Seats system until an alternative is given by the University.”
“We have been in a couple of meetings with senior members of the university management, and they’ve listened to our concerns.
“We listened to their concerns about withdrawing from CyberArk,” she added. “From their position, they've passed all the due diligence, and they don’t want to drop CyberArk for financial reasons.
“Despite this we believe the moral case is strong enough to campaign against CyberArk, given the genocide. It’s literally the worst thing we’ve lived through.”
A GCU spokesperson said that the university takes cybersecurity “very seriously.”
They added: “We are aware that a group is lobbying our wider students and staff to boycott our identity access system. The software has been licensed for use by the University via Computacenter and has been in use for over a year. We do not have a direct contract or relationship with CyberArk.
“Regarding the specific request of the campaign, the University is bound by World Trade Organisation and UK Government procurement rules and is not legally permitted to discriminate in its procurement decisions on grounds of nationality, unless, of course, relevant WTO or other sanctions are in place against a country – which they are not in this case.
“We have reached out and met representatives of the group and are happy to continue our discussions with them. We have also written to our students and staff so they have accurate information upon which to reflect.
“We are of course supportive of our students' right to peaceful protest and campaigning; as a University we welcome a diversity of views and believe everyone in our very broad and multicultural community should be treated with courtesy and respect.”
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CyberArk software is not used in the Seats attendance app, according to the university.
The tech company praised its partnership with GCU in a press release last year.
A statement read: “GCU has selected the CyberArk Identity Security Platform to power its mission-critical identity and access management modernization initiatives and improve security for its more than 27,000 staff and students.”
The software allows the university to “authenticate users with adaptive multi-factor authentication” and “securely access and share student and staff application passwords.”
Students have been told they should sign up to the new system as soon as possible, which will provide increased security and the ability to use university-licensed apps outside campus.
CyberArk was approached for comment.
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