It may be a sign of the times that even the risk of a data breach becomes newsworthy.
Last week, the Daily Press reported that a former part-time computer help desk technician at Thomas Nelson Community College claimed that he had been laid off almost three weeks earlier, but that he still had computer access to the records and Social Security numbers of every student in the Virginia Community College System. The college denied that he had been “laid off,” and stated that school policy is to end access when an employee is terminated.
In a follow-up a few days later, the reported that as soon as they had published the first story, the former tech’s access was promptly terminated. This time, the college claimed that:
“However, we believe his assessment of his access was incorrect; it did not include access to Social Security numbers,” Hayden said. “Security of student and institutional records is a paramount concern for all of Virginia’s Community Colleges, including Thomas Nelson Community College.”
“I’m pretty positive,” Slater said Friday, when asked again if he was sure he had access to Social Security numbers.