University of North Florida Suffers Data Breach

A foreign hacker managed to break into a database containing the personal information of high school and college students at the University of North Florida. A total of 106,884 people could have been impacted by this breach and it was disclosed that 52,853 had their names and social security numbers compromised. The University notified thousands of students that may have had their names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth compromised due to a data breach on a university computer server.

The University issued the following statement on the incident:

Between September 24, 2010 and September 29, 2010, a UNF file containing the personal information of high school and college students (and others interested in UNF) may have been accessed by unauthorized persons outside the United States. While immediate steps were taken to contain this breach and to prevent further unauthorized access, UNF is sending letters and e-mails to the 106,884 people impacted by this breach of security. UNF recognizes that those impacted will have many questions. This list of frequently asked questions was designed to provide helpful information about the breach.

What happened?

A person (or persons) outside the United States unlawfully gained access to a computer server containing a confidential file of information. In the world of computer security, these types of people are identified as “intruders.” It is possible the intruder’s intent was to either disrupt normal business or use the computer's processing power to launch similar attacks on other computers. While we have no proof that confidential information was stolen, the University is taking the precautionary measure of distributing a letter and e-mail notification to those individuals whose information was in the file, so that they can take appropriate steps....

The full statement, additional details and FAQs are available on the site setup by the university here.

The university said that the computer involved in the incident has been secured and precautions have been taken to minimize future data risks.

The university has also set up a phone number, 904-620-2114, and an e-mail account, [email protected], for questions concerning the data breach. We attempted to reach univeristy staff for comment via the hotline but operators were not available and a message instructed callers to visit the Web site that was setup to provide details on the breach.

Back in June, Buena Vista University suffered a data breach involving the personal information of 93,000 people.

Are you protecting your data from cybercriminals?

< Be Informed. Subscribe to SecurityWeek's Weekly Email Briefing Here >