June 1 | Campus
MEDIA CONTACT: Charles Loebbaka at 847-491-4887 or c-loebbaka@northwestern.edu
Data Breach Occurs at Northwestern
EVANSTON, Ill. --- Northwestern University recently discovered that files containing names and personal identification information on a University departmental computer had become available online.
The records of approximately 4,000 individuals have been identified as being stored on the computer in the Integrated Graduate Program in the Life Sciences. The records are of individuals who applied to or attended the program from 1991 to 2007.
As soon as the security breach was discovered, Northwestern's technical support personnel shut down the affected computer. In compliance with University policies and privacy regulations, Northwestern is notifying the individuals for whom it has addresses whose information was stored on the computer.
Northwestern recommends that, as a precautionary measure, anyone who has provided Social Security Number information to the Integrated Graduate Program during those years follow the identity theft precautions published by the Federal Trade Commission:
1) Contact the fraud department of one of the three major credit bureaus listed below to check for irregularities on your credit report. You may also want to request that the credit bureaus issue a fraud alert on your accounts.
Credit Bureaus:
Equifax: 800-685-1111 (ordering report)/888-766-0008 (fraud alert)
www.equifax.com
Experian: 888-397-3742 (ordering report and fraud alerts)
www.experian.com
Trans Union: 877-322-8228 (ordering report)/800-680-7289 (fraud alert)
www.transunion.com
2) Further information is available from the FTC by visiting http://www.ftc.gov or http://www.ftc.gov/idtheft or by calling toll-free 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261.
Anyone who believes their records may have been involved in this incident may obtain further information at (312) 503-0057 or IGP-LifeSciPhD@northwestern.edu.