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Announcement from the University of Nebraska at Kearney
On June 8, 2008, University of Nebraska at Kearney officials learned of a security breach involving certain desktop computers in the College of Natural and Social Sciences. The University’s investigation revealed unauthorized external access to nine faculty and staff Windows desktop workstations. The investigation also revealed that five of the computers contained files with names and social security numbers. It is possible the intrusion was intended to either disrupt normal business or use the computers’ processing power to launch similar attacks on other computers, possibly only to proliferate spam. The intruder may not have been aware that files with personal information were stored on the computers. The computers involved in the incident were immediately secured and the University took additional steps to prevent unauthorized external access to any campus computers.
A letter has been mailed to every person whose name and Social Security Number were found in files on the compromised computers. We will not contact anyone over the phone or via email regarding this incident. We strongly recommend that people do not release Social Security Numbers in response to telephone or email contacts that they have not initiated.
For more information, see the Security Incident Frequently Asked Questions page.
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