UNF Notifies Students of Computer Server Data Breach
           
            The University of North Florida has notified students that may have had their names, Social Security numbers and dates of birth compromised due to a data breach on a University computer server. The computer involved in this incident has been secured and precautions have been taken to minimize future data risks.
 
Between Sept. 24, and Sept. 29, a UNF file containing the personal information of high school and college students (and others interested in UNF) may have been accessed by unauthorized persons outside the United States. It is possible the intruder’s intent was to either disrupt normal business or use the computer’s processing power to launch similar attacks on other computers.
 
While immediate steps were taken to contain this breach and to prevent further unauthorized access, the University has sent letters and e-mails to the people impacted by this breach. A total of 106,884 people could have been impacted by this data breach. Of those, 52,853 had their names and Social Security numbers compromised and 54,031 had their names and dates of birth compromised. The intruder did not access students’ academic or financial aid information. Grades, financial aid history, course history and academic records aren’t at risk.
 
UNF has provided frequently asked questions on the University’s website, explaining what happened, when it happened, what actions have been taken by the University and precautions those potentially affected may take to safeguard their personal information as well as actions to be taken in the event of any suspicious activity on their accounts. UNF has also set up a phone number, (904) 620-2114, and an e-mail account, databreach@unf.edu, regarding questions concerning the data breach.
 
The University recommends that those who may have been affected place a fraud alert on their credit files with one of the three credit bureaus, Equifax http://www.equifax.com/answers/set-fraud-alerts/en_cp, Experian https://www.experian.com/fraud/center.html, or Trans-Union http://www.transunion.com/corporate/personal/fraudIdentityTheft/fraudPrevention/fraudAlert.page.
 
At this point, the University doesn’t know who the intruder is but the University Police Department is working closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation on this ongoing investigation to determine the cause and intent of the breach.
 
 
 
-UNF-
 
 Joanna Norris