Massive Data Breach Zings Florida University

Authorities at the University of North Florida are working with the FBI this week to investigate how a foreign-based hacker managed to pry his or her way into a critical server housing Social Security numbers and other personal information belonging to some 106,000 students and applicants.

As eSecurity Planet reports, this latest security gaffe at a major university underscores just how valuable the information held in university system is and how largely unsecured it remains.

The university’s on-campus police department is working with the FBI to investigate how the server was infiltrated, if other files were compromised and how many times the file was accessed during the breach. It’s also exploring new security technologies and policies in order to prevent future data security incidents.

The University of North Florida this week is embarking on the embarrassing but necessary process of notifying more than 106,000 students and applicants that someone managed to hack into a sensitive file housed on one of the university’s servers, exposing their Social Security numbers and other personal information.

In a security advisory posted on the Jacksonville, Fla.-based school’s website, university officials said an authorized person outside of the U.S. managed to access a recruitment file sometime between Sept. 24 and Sept. 29.

The compromised data included all types of information provided by applicants to the university between 2007 and 2010, including Social Security numbers, names, dates of birth and, in some cases, student’s SAT and ACT scores.

Read the full story at eSecurity Planet:


More Students Vulnerable to Identity Theft