Higher Ed Major Cyber Crime Target: Penn State University Data Breach

Unfortunately, we are seeing more and more colleges and universities become the targets for cyber crime. Our readers may recall our coverage of last year’s Boston University breach. And the challenges for higher education institutions continue to grow in immensity. To reinforce this, we recommend you check out this podcast with Chris Fulkerson, Assistant Vice President for Technology and CIO, Elon University. Keeping cyber criminals away from colleges and universities is no easy task.

That is why we find it disheartening to see that for the third time in six months a cyberattack at Penn State University exposed thousands of Social Security numbers to identity theft. The breach exposed 15,806 Social Security numbers, according to a statement released by school officials.

The university is complying with the 2006 state Breach of Personal Information Notification Act mandates that the PSU notify anyone whose personally identifiable information is potentially disclosed when a computer is lost or compromised. The mailing includes a brochure detailing how to prevent identity theft.