NEW YORK: Increasing numbers of university systems are becoming targets for hackers. The recent incident involves the Fairfield, Connecticut-based Sacred Heart University. The university's system containing information on 135,000 individuals was hacked recently and data consisting of personal information like names, addresses, and Social Security numbers were stolen.
The data, according to sources, included details on people other than students, who had never attended the university at any point of time. It was not clear why the university had collected and stored this information in its system.
The university said all the people affected have been notified by letter and offered precautionary measures in order to ensure their privacy. It has also set up a special website and a toll-free number to address concerns and provide information for affected individuals.
Connecticut's attorney general will be conducting an investigation into the incident.
In March, a Georgetown University network server containing data on 40,000 Washington D.C. residents was hacked, and names addresses, and Social Security numbers were stolen. Ohio University suffered a series of data breaches over the last few months, culminating in the theft of medical and personal information on 60,000 students from one of its health centers. In fact the data were with the hacker for nearly year before the university authorities could detect the hacking.
According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, since February 2005 almost 82 million people have had their personal information potentially exposed by unauthorized access to the computer systems of companies and institutions. It also said 50 per cent of all reported security breaches since February 2005 have occurred at colleges and universities.
Cyber security officials feel that hackers have come to realize that colleges hold many of the same records as banks. And it is easier to hack a college's system.
An FBI special agent said five years ago, his cyber crime unit in Los Angeles had hacking cases of one to three colleges at a time. Now this has gone up to six colleges at a time.
