Boston College Reveals Alumni Data Breach

Abstract

A computer at Boston College with access to an alumni database has been found to be infected with a virus that may have exposed personal information on more than 100,000 individuals. According to officials at the college, the computer was operated not by the college but by a third-party IT service, which officials declined to name. Although no evidence has so far surfaced that any of the information in the database was in fact accessed by hackers, officials decided to notify anyone who might have been affected. Jack Dunn, spokesperson for Boston College, said, "We thought it was necessary to send out the precautionary advisory to alert the alumni and to offer them steps that they could take to ensure their privacy." Dunn also noted that Boston College will hereafter delete Social Security numbers from its records, despite their usefulness in maintaining accurate records. Social Security numbers have lately been highlighted as one of the pieces of personal information that pose the greatest risk for identity theft.Members of Congress have recently proposed strict restrictions for how and when Social Security numbers can be gathered and sold.