Shostack + Friends Blog Archive

 

University of Georgia, 2400 SSNs, Hacker

ATHENS – A hacker broke into a computer database at the University of
Georgia, gaining access to the Social Security numbers of employees in
the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences and people who
are paid from that department.

More than 2,400 numbers, belonging to roughly 1,600 people, may have
been exposed, UGA spokesman Tom Jackson said Wednesday.

The names and numbers were not connected on the documents, Jackson
said, but an experienced hacker could be able to interpret the data
well enough to match them.

I don’t understand how 1,600 people have 2,400 social security numbers unless one of them worked for RBC Dain Rauscher.

From the Atlanta Journal Consitution, “Computer breach reported at UGA,” via InfoSec News.

One comment on "University of Georgia, 2400 SSNs, Hacker"

  • Chris Walsh says:

    The article is unclear. It says “documents” were taken, and that a “database” was the source, and that the attack was automated.
    My guess: this stuff was served up via good old HTTP.
    Time to start reading the UGA student newspaper — maybe they are asking some more detailed questions.

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