February 22, 2010
Valdosta State University in Valdosta,Georgia is the latest university to have been hit by a data breach. The social security numbers of up to 170,000 students and staff were exposed.
VSU said it was hit by an external hack over two weeks ago to a breached server that contained employee and student information.
An incident was initially detected on the 11th December last year, according to Joe Newton, director of information technology at Valdosta State University. However the university detected that
unauthorized access dated back to a month before on 11th November 2009.
VSU has been investigating an incident of unauthorized access to a computer server that held student and faculty social security numbers and grades.
Regarding this newly reported incident, Newton said: “An initial investigation has found no evidence that any personal data was accessed or transferred. The breached server was secured and removed
from the network. We are continuing the investigation with assistance from University Police and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.”
Mr. Newton said Valdosta State is in the midst of contacting all individuals whose information might have been exposed, and said that the university regretted the incident and was reviewing and revising
its procedures and practices to minimize the risk of another
reoccurrence.
People who think they could be affected by this breach may want to contact the Federal Trade Commisssion at 1(877)438-4338, there are also great resources at http://www.greatworkplan.com/betterlife4u
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