IA: Buena Vista University reveals data breach (update 1)

Buena Vista University has had a data breach on campus. We engaged a nationally-recognized computer forensics team to conduct an investigation and learned someone gained unauthorized access to a BVU database. The information that this person could have accessed includes names, Social Security numbers and some driver’s license numbers of BVU students (applicants, former and current), parents, faculty/staff (current and former), alumni and some donor records. These records date back to 1987.

Although we have no evidence that any personal information has been misused or disclosed to other persons, we have notified via letter all university stakeholders whose personal information may have been accessed.

The letters contain information on how to access a one-year subscription to Experian’s Triple Alert, a credit monitoring service BVU is providing free of charge. The service provides timely alerts of any key changes to credit reports as well as fraud resolution assistance, if needed.

To enroll in the Experian services you will need the individual activation code contained in your letter. You can then enroll on the Experian website: http://partner.consumerinfo.com/buena or by calling an Experian representative toll-free at 866.252.0121. The enrollment deadline is August 20, 2010.

To determine if you will be among those notified, you may call the university at 866.450.4636, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. CT, Monday-Friday.

We regularly review our security measures and processes and remain committed to maintaining the privacy and security of all confidential data. We are currently working with a nationally-recognized outside expert to mitigate any risk of potential harm and are taking the steps necessary to prevent any future unauthorized access to BVU’s information systems. The incident has now been referred to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota.

We deeply regret this incident and are committed to protecting the personal information of all our stakeholders.

Source: Buena Vista University. A sample of their notification letter is available here (pdf).

So what’s missing from their notification? Let’s see…
1. It doesn’t tell us when the breach/unauthorized access occurred.
2. It doesn’t tell us for how long the breach occurred.
3. It doesn’t tell us how and when BVU first became aware of the breach.
4. It doesn’t tell us how many individuals had data on the server.
5. It doesn’t tell us why the data on the server were not encrypted and whether they were supposed to have been encrypted.
6. It doesn’t tell us why data from over 20 years ago was still on a server connected to the Internet.

And why was this reported to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Minnesota instead of Iowa?

We’re missing a lot of information on this breach.

Update 1: Another source reports that the breach could affect 93,000.