University Police in association with the FBI and the Information Technology and Communication Office are currently investigating a security breach of a University Web site involving the private information of 5,735 current and former faculty members.
A data table with the faculty members' names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth was mistakenly attached to a Web application in 2003 and was viewed on numerous occasions by hackers, said Shirley Payne, ITC director for security coordination and policy.
"The University has never had a breach like this before," University spokesperson Carol Wood said. "There have been laptops stolen before ... for the laptops, not for the information. Here the information was the target."
According to Payne the data did not include numbers related to staff or students. It did, however, contain information dating back as far as 1990.
The table was discovered April 20 of this year and was subsequently removed, Payne said. Soon thereafter, the application was attacked by a hacker.
"The programmers spotted that attack immediately and they began a very formal review of their log records," Payne explained.
On May 29, during the review, the investigators realized that the information had been accessed on numerous occasions between May 20, 2005 and April 19, 2007, Payne said. University officials have since taken actions to address the situation and notify those involved.
"We have issued e-mails to the faculty and we are sending out letters via the U.S. Postal Service," she said. "We have created an informational Web site ... we really wanted to try every avenue to inform our faculty."
The University is also offering free credit monitoring for faculty members who have been affected by the hacking, Wood said.
"People should go ahead and sign up for credit monitoring," she said. "Additional resources [are also available] so that people can check their credit."
There are currently no suspects in the criminal investigation.
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