USC Database hacked

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Randall <rvh40 () insightbb com>
Date: July 19, 2005 5:17:54 PM EDT
To: Dave <dave () farber net>
Cc: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
Subject: USC Database hacked


http://tinyurl.com/bc8gd
Univ. of Southern Calif. says database hacked
1 hour, 30 minutes ago

A University of Southern California database containing about 270,000
records of past applicants including their names and Social Security
numbers was hacked last month, officials said on Tuesday.

The breach of the university's online application database exposed
"dozens" of records to unauthorized individuals, said Katharine
Harrington, USC dean of admissions and financial aid.

She could not be more specific about the number of people whose personal
data may have been viewed by the hacker or hackers or what their
motivation was for the computer break-in.

"There was not a sufficiently precise tracking capability," Harrington
said, but added that the hackers had not been able to access multiple
records at once. Records were also only able to be viewed at random, she
said.

"We are quite confident that there was no massive downloading of data,"
Harrington said.

USC learned of the breach June 20 when it was tipped off by a
journalist, Harrington said. It has since shut down the Web site and has
notified people whose names and Social Security numbers were in the
database of the security breach.

The university was not able to identify exactly which records may have
been exposed.

The site will be back up once new security measures are taken, the
university said in a written statement.

A California law that took effect two years ago requires institutions to
inform those affected when their personal information has been stolen or
accidentally released.

A number of states are considering similar legislation, and a bill is
pending in the U.S. Senate that would also require institutions to tell
people when the privacy of their personal information has been
compromised.

Consumer advocates say such notification is important because it
provides an opportunity for consumers to put a fraud alert on their
credit file.

Identity theft is the top consumer fraud complaint, according to the
Federal Trade Commission, which estimates that some 10 million people
are affected each year.


--  
"We've got the hatemongers who literally hate this president, and that
is so wrong. . . . The people who hate George Bush hate him because he's
a follower of Jesus Christ, unashamedly says so and applies his faith in
his day-to-day operations." -- Rev. Jerry Falwell, on C-SPAN's  
"Washington Journal"



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