UCF: 63,000 Social Security numbers of students, staff compromised

ORLANDO, Fla. — Social Security numbers of 63,000 students, staff and faculty members at the University of Central Florida were accessed by hackers, the university said Thursday.

UCF did not say how their computer systems were breached but assured those affected that credit card information, financial and medical records, and grades were not accessed.

Those affected include some current student athletes and former student athletes who played for UCF during the 2014-2015 school year, the university said.

The information of student athletics staff members – managers, for example – was also involved, UCF said.

In this group, the hackers were able to get information including first and last names, Social Security numbers, student ID numbers, the sport they are, or were, involved in, whether they were walk-ons or if they were recruited, and the number of credit hours they have taken and/or are in progress.

The second group of individuals whose information was compromised includes Other Personal Services (OPS) personnel. That includes undergraduate students employed by the university, graduate assistants, housing resident assistants, adjunct faculty instructors, student government leaders and faculty members who have been paid dual compensation.

In this group, hackers accessed first and last names, Social Security numbers and UCF-issued Employee Identification Numbers.

The university has put plans in motion to strengthen and enhance data security in the wake of the intrusion, UCF president John C. Hitt said in an email to the campus Thursday morning.

“Safeguarding your personal information is of the utmost importance at UCF,” he wrote. “To ensure our vigilance, I have called for a thorough review of our online systems, policies and training, to determine what improvements we can make in light of this recent incident.”

UCF officials said they're working to improve accounts, usernames and passwords.

Students said they’re still uneasy.

“When I found out about it, I completely freaked out,” said student Thomas Hodge. “That is very scary to me.”

The data breach was detected in January and immediately reported to law enforcement, and an internal investigation was launched, the university said.

Those affected by the breach will be contacted by mail during the week of Feb. 8.

"It's really crappy because, I mean, it's annoying to have to wait all that time to figure out if I'm at risk for anything," student Stephanie Emmino said.

The university is offering a year of free credit monitoring and identity-protection services for those affected by the hacking.

“We want everyone impacted to be aware of it,” said UCF spokesperson Chad Bennette.

The university created a web page with details on the incident and recommendations for those impacted. A call center has also been established at 877-752-5527, which is available from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday.

A Channel 9 viewer tip raised a concern the university doesn’t have updates addresses to receive the letter the university plans to send to those affected.

UCF officials did not say how they will make sure everybody gets the letter since some addresses are old.

Cox Media Group