MA: Hackers gained access to UMass info

[kirniki <kirniki () gmail com>]

http://www.telegram.com/article/20090821/NEWS/908210393/1116

Nearly a year ago, hackers broke into a computer server that contained
Social Security numbers and “a very limited amount of” credit card
information for graduates of University of Massachusetts at Amherst,
the university announced recently.

There is no evidence that any personal information was stolen,
according to UMass. Hackers gained access to one server on the
university’s computer system, which held information of students who
attended UMass between 1982 and 2002, as well as a few who attended
before 1982. A UMass spokesman declined to say how many people’s
records were exposed, except that it was “a large number” of
undergraduate and graduate students who attended the university during
the 20-year period.

Breaks into the server occurred from Sept. 15 to Oct. 27 of last year,
with the most vulnerability on Sept. 15 and Sept. 16, said John
Dubach, chief information officer, in a statement posted on UMass’ Web
site.

The statement was posted online Aug. 5, and UMass placed legal ads
that ran for seven days during the last two weeks in the Telegram &
Gazette, The Republican of Springfield and the Boston Globe. The
notification, which is required by the attorney general’s office, came
11 months after the electronic intrusion, even though the UMass Office
of Information Technology was aware of the breach last fall.

Patrick J. Callahan, a university spokesman, said the notification was
delayed until investigators could determine what information was on
the vulnerable computer. That took several months.

[..]
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