Copyright© 2007 by School Services of California, Inc.

                                      Volume 20                   For Publication Date: July 6, 2007             No. 15

Hacker Hits UC Davis’ Veterinary School 

On June 27, 2007, Bennie Osburn, Dean of the Veterinary School at University of California, Davis, sent letters to students and applicants informing them that their personal information had been compromised. Osburn wrote specifically, “to inform you that the University recently became aware an unauthorized party had gained access to personal identity records.” 

University officials indicated that sometime before June 15 a hacker gained access to names, birth dates, and Social Security numbers of applicants to the School of Veterinary Medicine for the 2004 and 2007 entering classes. Of those entering classes, seven are current students and 131 are incoming students. 

The breach became public when newly admitted students to the School of Veterinary Medicine were unable to set up campus accounts because the system indicated accounts had already been established in their name. 

The University has advised all applicants to visit the Federal Trade Commission’s website on identity theft, to call the Social Security Administration’s fraud line, and for current students to change their campus password. University police and the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force are investigating the breach. 

This is not the first time an incident of this nature has occurred at UC Davis since 2003, when a new state reporting law took effect. There have been 16 previous instances where the University has notified individuals of a breach of security over personal information. 

Dean Osburn indicated that the University will pay for a one-year credit monitoring service for all of the applicants whose personal information was compromised.  Additional information on this issue can be found at the University website: http://www.vetmed.ucdavis.edu/computer%5Fsecurity/ 

—Jamillah Moore, Ed.D