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June 29, 2007, 07:14 AM ET
Security at Vet School Goes to the Dogs
From his office at the University of California at Davis, the dean of the veterinary school, Bennie Osburn, sent out an alarm yesterday. "I'm writing to inform you that the University recently became aware...an unauthorized party had gained access to personal identity records," he wrote in a letter to students and applicants.
A hacker, sometime before June 15, got into the campus computer system and found the names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers of an estimated 1,120 people who had applied to the School of Veterinary Medicine for the 2007-8 academic year. The hacker also peeked at data from several hundred applicants from 2004.
University police officers, along with the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force, are investigating but have not determined how the security breach occurred.
The school did have some advice for people whose data might have been swiped: Visit the Federal Trade Commission's Web site on identity theft, and call the Social Security Administration's fraud line. The university also has a Web site with more guidance.
Osburn said Davis, "at its own expense, will make available a one-year credit monitoring service for you and all of those affected by this incident." He closed by reassuring the possible identity-theft victims that the university is committed to protecting their privacy. --Josh Fischman
Categories: Security
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