Information Security News: 40 computers in Chemistry Department hacked, possibly exposing private info

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http://www.dailycardinal.com/news/40-computers-in-chemistry-department-hacked-possibly-exposing-private-info-1.832564#at

By Ryan Hebel
The Daily Cardinal
October 28, 2009

Forty computers in UW-Madison's Chemistry Department were hacked and 
2,920 names and Social Security numbers were potentially exposed, mostly 
during the past 18 months, according to an e-mail from UW-Madison 
spokesperson John Lucas.

UW-Madison discovered the security breach Aug. 31 "through the use of 
new monitoring hardware," but the identity of the hacker or hackers 
remains unknown. Lucas said there is no evidence the infiltrations were 
done locally or by a member of the UW-Madison community.

"We do know the machines were used as part of an underground 
distribution network of music, movies, television shows and commercial 
software," he said.

Lucas said there is no evidence that documents containing the Social 
Security numbers' such as class rosters and grading documents—were 
accessed, though UW-Madison still reported the breach to law enforcement 
and credit reporting agencies.

An Oct. 12 letter to the affected individuals, signed by Chemistry Chair 
Robert Hamers and Chief Information Officer Ron Kraemer, noted that 
since the breach, "departmental controlled/owned computers have been 
scanned to locate and remove or encrypt personal data, network 
monitoring has been increased, a central update service has been 
installed and anti-virus activity messages have been redirected to a 
central location for monitoring."

[...]

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