Penn State breached, 12k alumni and faculty at risk
14 June, 2011
category: Education
Penn State Altoona, a part of the Penn State University system, is on high alert after recent security breach that could have potentially exposed the personal information of some 12,000 alumni, faculty and staff, according to The Altoona Mirror.
University officials state that the breach only poses a threat to students and faculty predating 2005, because this is when the university used Social Security Numbers at its primary identification system. The university’s system has since been replaced, but Social Security numbers predating 2005 still remain in the campus’ database.
University IT staff discovered the breach through a routine system check, noting that the virus was created with the specific intent to infiltrate and steal data. Officials say there is no way of knowing whether information was received by anyone outside the university, but there is a potential.
Read the fully story here.