Bowling Green State University is notifying current and former students of accounting professor Dr. W. David Albrecht that a computer flash drive with information about them has been lost. Files on the portable storage device contained Social Security numbers for 199 students from his classes in 1992, and the names, grades and University identification numbers but not the Social Security numbers for approximately 1,600 other students.
There is no indication that any information on the missing flash drive has been accessed in any way, and there was no system breach or hacking of the University's computer systems.
The University has sent letters to those affected and has posted a notice on its Web site encouraging current and former students who may have taken Albrecht's classes to contact the BGSU College of Business Administration. BGSU has been monitoring its systems and processes for evidence that information contained on the lost flash drive is being misused, but no such evidence has yet been uncovered.
The University also is offering to purchase a year of services from LifeLockSM for those whose Social Security numbers were on the missing device. LifeLockSM provides identity theft prevention services. In addition to or instead of using LifeLockSM, individuals may also elect to place a fraud alert with credit bureaus and/or periodically run a credit report to ensure that accounts have not been opened in their name. If an account has been fraudulently created, individuals should immediately contact law enforcement officials and the financial agency concerned.