Virginia Tech has learned that a computer server in the Department of Human Resources was illegally accessed on August 28, 2013. A VT spokesperson informs DataBreaches.net that the illegal access was from outside the school an IP address in Italy. The server contained information about 144,963 individuals who used the institution’s online employment application process…
Category: Education Sector
Oh, those hidden fields in Excel spreadsheets: Columbia University Medical Center notifies students of breach
It seems that Columbia University Medical Center inadvertently exposed the Social Security numbers of 138 medical students from the graduating class of 2013 in an Excel spreadsheet sent to faculty, students, and staff. CUMC became aware of the breach on March 15. The breach occurred because the Excel spreadsheet with residency match lists for the graduating…
Audit of State University of New York at Albany reveals to-be-surplussed devices certified as “clean” still contained PII
I periodically post audits from the NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office pertaining to data protection. A recently released audit of SUNY-Albany reminds us that we need to continue to be concerned about inadequately wiped devices or drives that are to be surplussed. The audit period covered January – May 2012, and during that time, SUNY-Albany…
Hanoi: 200 students off school because of hacker
Two hundred primary school students in Hanoi had a day off from school after a programmer hacked into the school’s messaging system to send a false notification to parents that students should take the day off. The programmer worked for a company that competes with the Ha Dinh school’s software provider and reportedly did it…
8News Investigates: Schools Release Student’s Personal Info
Parents of children at Hopkins Road and Salem Church Road Elementary Schools say their kids came home with sensitive data belonging to other students and they now want to know who has access to their kid’s private data. An 8News investigation found 130 students at the two schools brought home information forms filled with personal…
Hacker pleads guilty to charges he sold “magic passwords” to sensitive networks
Dan Goodin reports: A Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a scheme to hack in to sensitive computer networks operated by the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and other sensitive organizations and then sell “magic passwords” providing backdoor access to others. Andrew James Miller, 23, of Devon, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to one count of…