Federal Student Lender Loses Data on 3.3 Million Borrowers

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 04/08/10

A non-profit organization that guarantees federal student loans was a victim of portable media theft during March, potentially affecting 3.3 million people whose personal information was on the media.

Educational Credit Management Corp. (ECMC) said the theft occurred at its headquarters in St. Paul, MN sometime during the weekend of March 20-21, 2010. The stolen data contained names, addresses, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers of borrowers, but no bank account or other financial account information. Company representatives said they're not aware of any instances in which the data has been misused.

ECMC discovered the theft on the afternoon of Sunday, March 21 and contacted law enforcement. The organization, which said it has guaranteed $11 billion worth of student loans, is working with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in the investigation.

The organization said affected individuals would receive a letter containing information about how to sign up for free credit monitoring and notification, get assistance from ECMC fraud resolution representatives, and be provided with identity theft insurance coverage.

"We deeply regret that this incident occurred and the stress it has caused our borrowers and our partners and are doing everything we can to help protect our borrowers' identity and personal information," said Richard Boyle, president and CEO.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • glowing blue AI sphere connected by fine light lines, positioned next to a red-orange shield with a checkmark

    Cloud Security Alliance Offers Playbook for Red Teaming Agentic AI Systems

    The Cloud Security Alliance has introduced a guide for red teaming Agentic AI systems, targeting the security and testing challenges posed by increasingly autonomous artificial intelligence.

  • server racks, a human head with a microchip, data pipes, cloud storage, and analytical symbols

    OpenAI, Oracle Expand AI Infrastructure Partnership

    OpenAI and Oracle have announced they will develop an additional 4.5 gigawatts of data center capacity, expanding their artificial intelligence infrastructure partnership as part of the Stargate Project, a joint venture among OpenAI, Oracle, and Japan's SoftBank Group that aims to deploy 10 gigawatts of computing capacity over four years.

  • laptop displaying a red padlock icon sits on a wooden desk with a digital network interface background

    Reports Highlight Domain Controllers as Prime Ransomware Targets

    A recent report from Microsoft reinforces warnings about the critical role Active Directory (AD) domain controllers play in large-scale ransomware attacks, aligning with U.S. government advisories on the persistent threat of AD compromise.

  • Abstract AI circuit board pattern

    New Nonprofit to Work Toward Safer, Truthful AI

    Turing Award-winning AI researcher Yoshua Bengio has launched LawZero, a new nonprofit aimed at developing AI systems that prioritize safety and truthfulness over autonomy.