The University of Central Florida (UCF) has admitted that hackers who broke into its systems may have snaffled the personal details of more than 60,000 staff and students.

The breach, discovered in early January but only made public on Thursday, exposed the social security numbers and other private information of 63,000 students, former students and faculty/staff members at the institution, which is a half-an-hour's drive away from Disney's Epcot Center.

Credit card numbers, medical records, financial records and grades are all thought to have been unexposed by the hack, according to the Orlando-based university. UCF has more than 60,000 students enrolled but the problem was limited to a subset of the university’s community. The obvious risk is that if criminals get hold of the social security numbers and other private information they might use this data to secure fraudulent lines of credit or loans.

Those affected should soon receive a letter by snail mail explaining how to sign up for one year of free credit monitoring and identity-protection services, which UCF is offering to victims of the breach.

Law enforcement, aided by an unnamed digital forensics firm, is looking into the breach. ®