Close to Quarter of Million People Were Vulnerable to Unauthorized Online Access at Western Connecticut State University

By

Some 233,880 people who had contact with Western Connecticut State University were vulnerable to having their private records exposed to unauthorized online access, according to the Danbury, Conn., school.

The records include Social Security numbers and financial account information which date back 13 years. The vulnerability took place between April 2009 and September 2012.

The university claims it found no evidence that records were inappropriately accessed, and has corrected the vulnerability in the storage system.

The Ridgefield Press reported that the vulnerability was found in a security audit, not found out because of a data breach.

“It was a regular maintenance [discovery], kind of looking at the system,” Interim Associate Vice President Paul Steinmetz told the newspaper. “It was discovered by the University Computing — our IT department.”

It also appears the vulnerability was caused by a “misconfiguration, rather than a flaw in software licensed from a vendor,” Steinmetz told the newspaper.

The university has been proactive since the discovery.

“We are disappointed that these records were potentially exposed, but we will do everything we can to protect our students, their families and others with whom we have worked,” Western Connecticut President James W. Schmotter said in a recent statement. “The steps we are taking and the solutions we are offering to every one of those affected are designed to address any problems this situation may have caused.”

Those impacted include students, their relatives who filled out financial aid information, and others who associated with the university, as well as high school students whose SAT scores were purchased in lists by the college. 

The university is offering up to two years of ID theft protection at no cost through AllClear ID, according to a university statement.  AllClear ID provides free identity theft protection service for consumers, TechZone360 adds.

Western Connecticut also has set up a searchable database that contains the names of all affected individuals. A hotline at (855) 731-6012 was also set up to answer questions.




Edited by Rich Steeves
Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. [Free eNews Subscription]

TechZone360 Contributor

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Related Articles

Can Science Outsmart Deepfake Deceivers? Klick Labs Proposes an Emerging Solution

By: Alex Passett    3/25/2024

Researchers at Klick Labs were able to identify audio deepfakes from authentic audio recordings via new vocal biomarker technology (alongside AI model…

Read More

Top 5 Best Ways to Integrate Technology for Successful Project-Based Learning

By: Contributing Writer    3/19/2024

Project-based learning, also popularly known as the PBL curriculum, emphasizes using and integrating technology with classroom teaching. This approach…

Read More

How to Protect Your Website From LDAP Injection Attacks

By: Contributing Writer    3/12/2024

Prevent LDAP injection attacks with regular testing, limiting access privileges, sanitizing user input, and applying the proper encoding functions.

Read More

Azure Cost Optimization: 5 Things You Can Do to Save on Azure

By: Contributing Writer    3/7/2024

Azure cost optimization is the process of managing and reducing the overall cost of using Azure. It involves understanding the resources you're using,…

Read More

Massive Meta Apps and Services Outage Impacts Users Worldwide

By: Alex Passett    3/5/2024

Meta's suite of apps and services are experiencing major global outages on Super Tuesday 2024.

Read More