UT Austin hack yields personal info on thousands

An Internet-based attack on computer systems at the University of Texas at Austin yielded personal information on more than 55,000 individuals, including current and former students, current and former faculty, staff and job applicants, according to a statement posted on the university's Web site.

The attack was first detected Sunday when computer systems personnel at the university noticed that a computer was malfunctioning.

Analysis of the problem revealed that it was the result of an attack and that an administrative data reporting system used by the university had been compromised in that attack, according to the university.

The attacker or attackers apparently used a "blunt force" approach to cracking the system, writing a program that input millions of Social Security numbers to the system. Social Security numbers that matched records in the UT database were captured.

In addition to the victims' Social Security numbers, the attackers gained access to e-mail addresses, titles, phone numbers and university department addresses. Academic and health records were not exposed, the university said.

Approximately 55,200 individuals had some of their data exposed in the attack, the university said.

The university is working with the U.S. Attorney's Office as well as the U.S. Secret Service to locate those responsible for the break-in and is working to contact all of those affected by the attack, it said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.