Schools Hacked

The University of California Berkeley school was hit with a data breach that might have exposed students’ Social Security numbers. The data held in the breached computer included Names, Social Security, and bank account numbers. The breach affected about 260 undergraduates and former students, as well as 290 parents and other individuals.

Auburn University (Alabama) revealed last month that unauthorized users gained access to the Social Security numbers of more than 364,000 people, including prospective students. Quite a few notable alumni have graduated from Auburn, including current CEO, Tim Cook.

The University of California, Riverside said nearly 8,000 current and former graduate students and applicants had their personal information exposed in March.

U.C. Berkeley, a major source of talent for Silicon Valley, discovered the data breaches in March and hired a digital forensics team to investigate prior to alerting students.

The Technical College of the Lowcountry in Beaufort says a data breach has been reported involving the publication of names and Social Security numbers of about 90 former students. It was reported that the former Beaufort school district students were enrolled in the school’s early college program in 2009 and 2010.
The South Carolina Division of Information Services is investigating.

Colleges typically store a range of valuable personal information about students and their families, and their systems often do not have the most up-to-date security.
An increase in the number of college data breaches is likely to call attention to the issue.