UC Berkeley journalism school reports possible data breach
Thursday, August 13, 2009
The University of California-Berkeley is notifying 493 applicants to the Graduate School of Journalism that their Social Security numbers and other personal information may have been stolen in a server data breach.
Early last month, UC-Berkeley IT staff discovered a website in which a hacker claimed to have broken into the journalism school's web server. The university said it found evidence that the server was hacked, but could not confirm whether any information was stolen.
Because the server contained a database with Social Security numbers belonging to individuals who applied for admission to the journalism school between September 2007 and May 2009, the school decided to notify them of the potential for identity theft.
Starting Tuesday, the school began sending letters to anyone who applied to the Graduate School of Journalism between 2007 and 2009 and provided valid Social Security numbers.
"While there is no evidence that any information was actually stolen - or even viewed - by the hacker, the possibility of exposure prompted a university decision to err on the side of caution and notify the student applicants of the incident," the school said on its website.
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