Wednesday, February 28, 2001

Indiana University penetration raises fears of identity theft A user browsing from Sweden stored music and video files on a server at Indiana University that had apparently been left unprotected after a crash. IU realized it had a problem when huge increases were noted in network traffic. In the process, they also noted that a file of over 3,100 student names and SSNs had been copied from the server. Associate Vice President Perry Metz contacted the Social Security Administration about what might be an appropriate reaction, and said that they told him ``it's unlikely and unusual for someone who has your Social Security number to be able to do anything with it. Normally, financial institutions require additional information.'' [Is that reassuring to RISKS readers? Sources: Swedish hacker breaches IU server; Culprit stored music, video files on system and also downloaded private student data, AP item 28 Feb 2001, and article by John Meunier, *Herald-Times*, 28 Feb 2001; PGN-ed] ["Keith A Rhodes" via risks-digest Volume 21, Issue 29] 0:00 # G!