DataBreaches.Net

Menu
  • About
  • Breach Notification Laws
  • Privacy Policy
  • Transparency Report
Menu

How many strikes before they’re out?

Posted on February 23, 2009 by Dissent

A tip of my cap to Jai Vijayan of Computerworld, who in the process of digging into the second recent University of Florida breach realized that the university had had a third breach in the past three months that hadn’t made the media.

Three breaches in three months sounds pretty bad, but it sounds even worse when you consider that in November 2008, Nathan Crabbe of The Gainesville Sun had discovered that the University of Florida had had 15 breaches in the year prior to the November incident in which a hacker accessed the records of 344,000 patients at the university’s College of Dentistry. In that case, the records on the hacked system went back to 1990. In the more recent incident affecting 97,000, records on the “Grove” computer went back to 1996.

So now the count seems to be 18 breaches in 18 months. At what point does someone say “enough is enough?” Because the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS) does not publicly reveal its investigations, it is unknown whether the university was ever investigated for breaches involving patient data. But what about the U.S. Department of Education? The DOE has the statutory authority to cut off all federal funds to a post-secondary institution for FERPA violations under some restricted conditions. They have never cut off funds to any institution as far as I can recall, and it is somewhat doubtful whether a pattern of repeated security breaches involving protected education records would meet the conditions under which they might cut off funds. It may surprise some readers to learn that FERPA does not even require that a covered entity notify individuals if their has been a breach of their protected information, merely that the institution make a note of the unauthorized disclosure in case the student or parent should ever inquire.

So how many strikes before they’re out or face some additional penalties? There may be no limit.


Related:

  • PowerSchool commits to strengthened breach measures following engagement with the Privacy Commissioner of Canada
  • Two more entities have folded after ransomware attacks
  • Microsoft Releases Urgent Patch for SharePoint RCE Flaw Exploited in Ongoing Cyber Attacks
  • Global hack on Microsoft product hits U.S., state agencies, researchers say
  • Inquiry launched after identities of SAS soldiers leaked in fresh data breach
  • Premier Health Partners issues a press release about a breach two years ago. Why was this needed now?
Category: Breach IncidentsEducation SectorExposureHack

Post navigation

← Banks starting to report breach at unnamed processor
Ca: Ryerson software error exposes limited amount of personal information →

Now more than ever

"Stand with Ukraine:" above raised hands. The illustration is in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Search

Browse by Categories

Recent Posts

  • Scattered Spider Hijacks VMware ESXi to Deploy Ransomware on Critical U.S. Infrastructure
  • Hacker group “Silent Crow” claims responsibility for cyberattack on Russia’s Aeroflot
  • AIIMS ORBO Portal Vulnerability Exposing Sensitive Organ Donor Data Discovered by Researcher
  • Two Data Breaches in Three Years: McKenzie Health
  • Scattered Spider is running a VMware ESXi hacking spree
  • BreachForums — the one that went offline in April — reappears with a new founder/owner
  • Fans React After NASCAR Confirms Ransomware Breach
  • Allianz Life says ‘majority’ of customers’ personal data stolen in cyberattack (1)
  • Infinite Services notifying employees and patients of limited ransomware attack
  • The safe place for women to talk wasn’t so safe: hackers leak 13,000 user photos and IDs from the Tea app

No, You Can’t Buy a Post or an Interview

This site does not accept sponsored posts or link-back arrangements. Inquiries about either are ignored.

And despite what some trolls may try to claim: DataBreaches has never accepted even one dime to interview or report on anyone. Nor will DataBreaches ever pay anyone for data or to interview them.

Want to Get Our RSS Feed?

Grab it here:

https://databreaches.net/feed/

RSS Recent Posts on PogoWasRight.org

  • Congress tries to outlaw AI that jacks up prices based on what it knows about you
  • Microsoft’s controversial Recall feature is now blocked by Brave and AdGuard
  • Trump Administration Issues AI Action Plan and Series of AI Executive Orders
  • Indonesia asked to reassess data privacy terms in new U.S. trade deal
  • Meta Denies Tracking Menstrual Data in Flo Health Privacy Trial
  • Wikipedia seeks to shield contributors from UK law targeting online anonymity
  • British government reportedlu set to back down on secret iCloud backdoor after US pressure

Have a News Tip?

Email: Tips[at]DataBreaches.net

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Contact Me

Email: info[at]databreaches.net

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

DMCA Concern: dmca[at]databreaches.net
© 2009 – 2025 DataBreaches.net and DataBreaches LLC. All rights reserved.