[ISN] Hackers Access Financial Data At UMDNJ

[InfoSec News]

http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_099123340.html

Apr 9, 2006

(AP) NEWARK Computer hackers were able to gain access to the Social
Security numbers and other confidential financial information of
almost 2,000 University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey
students and alumni, university officials said.

UMDNJ kept the electronic break-in quiet while it investigated if the
information -- including the tuition aid and loan information of about
700 students and 1,150 alumni -- could be used by the hackers.

So far, officials believe the information was accessed, but initial
reports suggest that no information was taken. However, computer
experts are still investigating the incident.

"We know it was hacked into because there were some things on it that
did not belong -- pranks and games," UMDNJ interim President Bruce C.  
Vladeck told The Sunday Star-Ledger.

The breech was discovered Feb. 24 by UMDNJ's office of Business
Conduct, although officials did not disclose when the incident itself
occurred.

Robert Johnson, interim dean of UMDNJ's New Jersey Medical School,
sent letters to students on Friday notifying them they had been
"exposed to an increased risk of identity theft."

This hacking incident came on the heels of another incident in
February, in which hackers tried to get into the university's
networks.

However, officials said that attempt was unsuccessful because the
payroll computer the hackers were trying to break into contained only
test data and not actual payroll information.

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