Hackers, laptop thieves compromise personal information of 17,500 in US state
Two separate incidents ? both resulting in data breaches ? have left the personal information of 17,500 Ohio State University students, faculty members and staff compromised.
On 31 March or 1 April, a hacker using a foreign web address cracked a university firewall and accessed the names, Social Security numbers, employee ID numbers and birth dates of more than 14,000 current and former staff members, according to a university statement.
The university sent letters to affected personnel, who were offered a year of free credit protection.
Of the victims, nearly 7,000 are current staff members, while more than 7,100 are former university employees.
The university, on discovering the breach on 2 April, blocked access to the exposed database and informed state and federal law enforcement authorities.
University spokesman Jim Lynch told SCMagazine.com today that experts from Cybertrust have been hired to investigate the hacking.
