Dive Summary:
- On Friday, it was revealed that 6,300 University of South Carolina (USC) students were sent letters informing them that their personal information, including Social Security numbers, may have been compromised.
- The letters follow the theft of a laptop used to generate and grade tests for four physics courses, and while the school took about two months to round up contact information for all students who may have taken those courses between 2010 and 2013, officials are uncertain whether information for all students taking the classes during that time period was stored on the laptop.
- USC has suffered seven reported data breaches in the last seven years, exposing the records of over 87,000 students and employees, and the university plans to abandon using Social Security numbers for students in favor of unique IDs in addition to its ongoing six-year, $75 million overhaul of its 1970s software and implementation of a new security program.
From the article:
... The laptop used to generate and grade tests in four physics courses went missing from a locked room at the Jones Physical Sciences Building in late April, USC spokesman Wes Hickman said. ...