Swain Library News

Unauthorized access to SciFinder Scholar and other licensed resources has increased substantially in recent months at U.S. universities, including Stanford.

Compromised SUNet IDs and proxy servers appear to be the primary routes being used for illegally accessing licensed content.

• Users are strongly encouraged to change their password regularly (at least once every three months) to limit possible abuse of passwords that may have been compromised without the user’s knowledge. Passwords should be chosen so that they are not easily guessable; e.g., not be based on the user’s name or birth date.
• If you have set up proxy access to your computer, please make sure that access to it is secure.

  As you may know, it was possible to search SciFinder Scholar via CDSERVER. This afternoon I had SciFinder removed from the list of resources available on CDSERVER to help address unauthorized access. The MDL Crossfire Commander client software was also removed from CDSERVER (due to licensing language that prohibits the software from being networked). Both SciFinder and Crossfire are available on- and off-campus through web interfaces.

  Please see: Swain’s Databases page

Thank you very much for your support and efforts to help keep digital resources licensed by the Stanford Libraries available to the campus community. When access to resources becomes compromised, providers may block access to an individual or the entire campus and sometimes it takes weeks before access is restored.

Please feel free to contact the librarian if you have any questions or would like to discuss further.