UVA Security Breach: Data on 6,000 Faculty Exposed
- By Paul McCloskey
- 06/11/07
A computer security breach at the University of Virginia has exposed the names, birthdates, and social security numbers for almost 6,000 faculty members. The exposed faculty worked at UVA between 1990 and 2003. Their information has been compromised, and their identities could be stolen.
Shirley Payne, with UVA's information technology security office, said a "human error" gave thieves access to 5,735 faculty member records at the University of Virginia and the College at Wise.
On 54 days between May 2005 and April 2007, hackers broke into the records of faculty, more than a third of whom still work at the university. University staff discovered the security hole, which was located in a Web application database.
"As soon as that file was discovered, we removed it," Payne told the local NBC affiliate, WVIR-TV.
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About the Author
Paul McCloskey is contributing editor of Syllabus.