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Posts Tagged ‘Education’

Unauthorized person breaks into Purdue University’s computer system

August 23rd, 2011

Data of former students accessed illegally

First it was the gaming sites, followed by big corporations like NASA, later it was the healthcare industry and now its time for educational institutes to get their data breached !

Hackers hacked big time into Purdue University’s server which contained the personal information, including Social Security numbers and course records, of more than 7,000 former Purdue University students. These students had enrolled into a Math course.

The breach

The breach took place on April 5, 2010. As soon as the Purdue staff learned about it, they took the server offline. The notification came 16 months after the discovery of the breach.

The server contained 6.6 million nine-digit numbers in the hacked files. It took Purdue six months to analyze those numbers. After analysis Purdue determined that approximately 65,000 of those number combinations could be Social Security numbers. The numbers were further reanalyzed and the University matched 7,093 of those number combinations to Social Security numbers of former students.

The computer showed older course records from 2000 through the summer session of 2005.

Not only ex- students but a few professors, family members and contractors were potentially affected. A letter was sent to those affected stating a toll-free phone number for inquiries at 866-520-0492

Breach investigation

Investigation by Purdue University officials showed that 7,093 Social Security numbers were accessed by the hacker.

According to Laszlo Lempert, head of the Department of Mathematics ”Through our investigation, we found no evidence that the unauthorized user attempted to find or read any files with personal information in our system, but felt informing people who may have been affected was a necessary precaution,” . “We regret the breach occurred, and we’ve taken extensive measures to prevent this from happening again.”

As per Purdue University policy, Social Security numbers are no longer used except where required by law. A Purdue identification number is issued to all students, alumni, faculty and staff.

Security tips by Purdue

Place a fraud alert on your credit file, if you haven’t already done so.
Close accounts that you believe have been tampered with.
File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. For step-by-step instructions and contact information, go to: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/

AlertSec’s security services

Organisations and educational institutes which contain a large amount of data have to have an information security policy in place that proves they have taken necessary steps and measures to safeguard the information they gathered. If these policies are not adhered to, the regulators may prosecute.

Alertsec Xpress is used by organizations that have recognized the need to protect their information. Customers range from single-user sole traders and consultants to multinational companies with a large number of offices around the globe. Alertsec Xpress’s Check Point Full Disk Encryption is used by over 4 million users worldwide.

To protect information on laptops with encryption is of paramount importance if you want to comply to today’s legislation, not to mention the peace of mind for people managing security for a mobile workforce. We have found Alertsec Xpress to be secure, yet easy to use and implement.

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Posted in Computer security, Data Protection, computer security software, data breach, data encryption

Large scale computer thefts at Pendle schools

September 6th, 2010

£60,000 worth of computers have been stolen from Pendle schools over the summer holidays. The thieves have struck at Fisher-More Catholic Humanities College, Primet High School and Park High School over the course of six-weeks.

Fisher-More was struck four times by thieves over the course of holidays. The first two thefts occurred at the end of July when computer equipment valued at almost £8,500 was taken. Then again, the thieves returned on August 25th and 26th, this time taking two computers and a compact computer monitor, together valued at nearly £2,000.

Laptops valued at £2,500 were stolen from Park High School in the early hours of August 26th. The worst affected is Primet High School where £40,000 worth of equipment have been stolen. Thieves raided the school’s IT suite at the weekend, taking computers, two-way radios and other resources.

Initial investigation form the police suggests that the thieves broke into Fisher-More and Park through the windows but entered Primet through the roof. PC Mark Blackey, of Colne Police, said: “We cannot say for certain, but we think it is the same thieves going around high schools in the area. In view of this, we are asking schools to be particularly vigilant.”

Fisher-More headteacher Mr Chris Bohills said: “Governors and staff were very disappointed after the summer break to find vandals had thrown stones through six large windows and thieves had also broken into school, stealing 12 computers which also created a great deal of mess. This had to be attended to as a matter of urgency for the students’ return and has cost the school considerably, a cost which would have been better used for the academic interests of our pupils. However this will not dampen our spirits after the best ever GCSE results at the school this summer and staff and students are looking forward to working in the new classrooms and administration block at the front of the building.”

Headteacher of Primet High School Janet Walsh said: “This is a particularly cruel crime targeting children and their learning opportunities. Education is already poorly funded, so to take such treasured equipment is appalling. Luckily we can still teach without the equipment, but teachers will need to re-plan their lessons and we will have to resort to old methods of teaching for a while.”

Dr Paul Parkin, headteacher at Park High School, said: “During the summer holidays the school has spent a considerable amount of money updating and extending facilities for pupils. It is disappointing that theft and vandalism of this nature has happened. The costs of replacing damaged or stolen items and increased levels of security limit the funding available for our pupils. However we will not let this affect the start to the new academic year. We remain committed to improving the quality of facilities in school.”

PC Blackey said: “We are appealing to any local residents who saw anyone in the area of the schools acting suspiciously at these times to contact us anonymously on 472441 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.”

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Posted in Alertsec Express, Computer security, Data Protection

Tags: Crime Education General Certificate of Secondary Education High school Park High School Personal computer Theft Twitter

Leakage of personal information leaves students & employees of six Florida universities exposed

August 13th, 2010

Six colleges in Florida had their students and employees’ personal data exposed due to a state library service center software glitch. The information was publically available on the Internet for 5 days.

Students, faculty, and employees at Broward College, Florida State College at Jacksonville, Northwest Florida State College, Pensacola State College, South Florida Community College, and Tallahassee Community College, all are at risk of exposed personal data, according to The College Center for Library Automation (CCLA), which provides automated library services and electronic resources to Florida public colleges.

Private information such as Social Security Numbers, names, driver’s license and card numbers of an estimated 126,000 students and employees was available on the internet after a library services firm serving the colleges inadvertently left the information in its database exposed for five days. The personal information in CCLA’s database did not include financial data or library usage records, and it was exposed between May 29 and June 2.

Six state community college colleges were affected because their borrower records were contained in temporary work files that were being processed at the time the breach occurred. The library agency learned of the incident on June 23, after a student reported finding his Social Security Number on the internet through a Google search.

The CCLA did not provide details of what the software upgrade entailed or why the upgrade left the database exposed, except that the compromised records had been stored in temporary work files that were being processed when the breach occurred.

“We pride ourselves on protecting private information and deeply regret this inadvertent exposure,” said Richard Madaus, CEO of CCLA. “I apologize to those involved for any worry or inconvenience this may cause them. We will continue to enhance our technology to safeguard all of the information entrusted to us.”

He also added “We’ve had some new grad hires who said when they took tests in college, they had to write their SSN on top of the test” to identify themselves, he says. “I think that’s changing, but there still are some old systems out there that need to be updated.”

The affected individuals are being notified by snail mail. Moreover, the agency has started with the investigation after discovering the breach, and the case has also been turned over to the county sheriff’s office. Also, the CCLA has set up a webpage about the breach and recommends that people affected by the breach place free fraud alerts on their credit files and check their credit reports for suspicious activity.

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Posted in Data Protection, data breach

Tags: Colleges and Universities Education Florida Google Personal computer security Social Security number United States

Laptop Theft Incidents at Schools in Australia

July 6th, 2010

: Bunch of Laptops via Flickr

In two separate incidents, laptops have been reported to be stolen from school premises. In the first incident, burglars hit the Glen Osmond Primary School on 29th June at about 2.30am and managed to steal eight Apple laptop computers.

In another incident, the ABERFOYLE Park High School also suffered a theft incident. According to the reports, on Monday, June 28 around 30 laptop computers were stolen overnight.

According to the principal of the school, Liz Mead the hospital has implemented measures to although she didn’t share the details of the security methods.

According to Liz Mead, “You just feel very disappointed because the school does have very good security”. “These laptops are there for our young people to work on so it’s disappointing when we have people who want to interrupt the learning of others.”

Ms Mead also mentioned that the school had ordered new laptops which were supposed to be delivered after the school holidays.

Laptop theft incidents at schools is a matter of high concern, because not only does it impact the working, causes financial damage but also creates a spot on our education ecosystem. These laptops are being used for educational purposes, so obviously the loss is more than the theft of a physical device or data loss. This creates an urgent need for appropriate laptop encryption measures !!

If you have information related to either thefts please contact BankSA Crime Stoppers on 1800333000 or online at www.sa.crimestoppers.com.au

Security against Laptop Theft

Today, information is often an organization’s most important asset. As laptops are overtaking desktop PCs as the major source of computing and media storage, laptops frequently store an organization’s most valuable information. Most laptops are stolen at the work place, conference centers, hotel rooms, cars, airports and train stations. As statistics show, it is just impossible to be able to prevent theft to occur as opportunists are everywhere in our society. Alertsec Xpress offers a very good and easy-to-use laptop security service that includes more than the traditional software licensing model. Feel free to subsribe for your personal 30-day free trial.