Nick Perry of The Seattle Times reports that 6,000 University of Washington employees were notified last week that their names and Social Security numbers were on a computer system that was hacked. At least two parking-management computer servers were hacked starting around Dec. 6 last year. The university recognized that the servers had been compromised…
Category: Education Sector
NZ: Privacy authority joins inquiry
Janine Rankin reports: The Privacy Commission will investigate how schools released schoolgirls’ contact details as part of the HPV (human papilloma virus) vaccination programme. The programme’s planned to continue next year to reach another three year groups, and in future will be routine for Year 8s. Assistant privacy commissioner Katrine Evans said getting the process…
Ohio University Closes Door on Breach Saga With $90,000 Settlement
Steve Kolowich reports: Ohio University has settled a lawsuit with two former information-technology administrators, paying them a total of $90,000 because the university improperly failed to disclose some records related to an investigation of a data breach three years ago. Thus concludes a saga fraught with litigation, finger-pointing, and the perils of technology. Read more…
UK: Stolen laptop contains pupils’ data
Brian Gomm reports that a computer stolen from Progress House, the main offices of Wigan Council’s Children and Young People’s Services, contained names, dates of birth, postcodes, ethnicity and, details of any special educational needs or eligibility for free school meals. The database on the password-protected laptop is thought to contain information on up to…
UT: Students’ personal information accidentally e-mailed to other students
Randall Jeppesen reports: Thousands of BYU [Brigham Young University] students got a glimpse at some of their fellow students’ private information. With the click of a mouse, a list with some BYU students’ names, their ID numbers, GPAs, e-mail addresses and home addresses was sent to 2,500 students in the College of Humanities. “It was…
NZ: Massey University Experiences Serious Breach Of Security
The Massey University intranet system utilised by students from all across New Zealand, MyMassey, is under scrutiny after a severe breach of security left thousands of students able to access other people’s highly sensitive information. Rawa Karetai, President of the Albany Students’ Association, was one of the first students to notice this critical error: “I…