2008 Woodie Awards
Students' info compromised
No identities yet reported stolen
Daniel Potter
Issue date: 2/14/08 Section: News
A hacker may have obtained the names and Social Security numbers of 1,500 MTSU students, FOX 17 News reported yesterday.
The university mailed the affected students last week informing them their information was potentially compromised.
The letter also advised them to put fraud alerts on their account to head off the possibility of identity theft. Students were able to do so online for free.
The information was stored on the computer of a professor in the School of Journalism. The computer was used to send spam messages by an unknown individual, who could have accessed the students' information at the same time, The Daily News Journal reported.
There is currently no indication any students' identities have been used fraudulently as a result. The university is not insuring the students against identity theft unless such evidence arises.
Regardless, "I do worry about it," said Kari Meutsch, senior accounting major. Having studied here for three years, Meutsch said she wonders how many papers are circulating on campus with her personal information.
"They should switch all the 'socials' to the M-number," she said, referring to the student-specific number recently devised to identify students as an alternative to Social Security numbers.
"It seems like they should've picked a different number apart from your Social Security number a long time ago," Meutsch said.
Justin Speakman, senior business administration major, said he's not worried because his professors don't ask students for Social Security numbers.
"I think they do a pretty good job on campus with security," Speakman said.
Still, as a precaution, "they need to implement some kind of rule" mandating proper disposal of sensitive papers, he said. "I don't know why you'd need that information still," Speakman said.
Neither Tim Brown, associate vice president of information technology, nor John Omachonu, interim dean of the College of Mass Communication, could be reached Wednesday for comment.
The university mailed the affected students last week informing them their information was potentially compromised.
The letter also advised them to put fraud alerts on their account to head off the possibility of identity theft. Students were able to do so online for free.
The information was stored on the computer of a professor in the School of Journalism. The computer was used to send spam messages by an unknown individual, who could have accessed the students' information at the same time, The Daily News Journal reported.
There is currently no indication any students' identities have been used fraudulently as a result. The university is not insuring the students against identity theft unless such evidence arises.
Regardless, "I do worry about it," said Kari Meutsch, senior accounting major. Having studied here for three years, Meutsch said she wonders how many papers are circulating on campus with her personal information.
"They should switch all the 'socials' to the M-number," she said, referring to the student-specific number recently devised to identify students as an alternative to Social Security numbers.
"It seems like they should've picked a different number apart from your Social Security number a long time ago," Meutsch said.
Justin Speakman, senior business administration major, said he's not worried because his professors don't ask students for Social Security numbers.
"I think they do a pretty good job on campus with security," Speakman said.
Still, as a precaution, "they need to implement some kind of rule" mandating proper disposal of sensitive papers, he said. "I don't know why you'd need that information still," Speakman said.
Neither Tim Brown, associate vice president of information technology, nor John Omachonu, interim dean of the College of Mass Communication, could be reached Wednesday for comment.
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