Purdue data breach exposes personal info of 26K prospective students

Ron Wilkins | Journal & Courier

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Personal information of 26,598 prospective Purdue students found its way to a parent of a possible student, Purdue spokesman Jim Bush said Thursday in a news release.

The file with the personal information was mistakenly sent to a parent of prospective student on May 17.

"While Purdue regrets this error, we have no reason to believe the information was improperly accessed or used given the prompt and thorough cooperation of the recipient and the limited nature of the disclosure," Purdue officially stated in a news release.

When the parent received the file, he or she immediately contacted Purdue and cooperated with the university to destroy the file without any further breaches, according to the news release.

"The university filed a report with the state's attorney general office and is providing required notifications and offering credit monitoring for a period of one year," the release states.

The notifications are being mailed Friday and will contain information about how people can sign up for credit monitoring and other advice about identity protection.