The information of around 63,000 students and employees at the University of Central Florida was stolen by hackers recently.
UCF officials announced the hack on Feb. 4 after it was discovered that the social security numbers and names of former and current students and employees had been accessed in early January, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
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The school has mailed letters to the affected people, which in some cases include former employees at the school dating back to the 1980s. A center has also been established for people to call in order to determine if their information was compromised, and a website has been set up at ucf.edu/datasecurity.
The FBI and the UCF Police Department are investigating, although the school said the probe into the details of the crime has been completed.
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Oftentimes, hackers are able to access large databases like the ones at universities by “phishing.” That means the hackers send fake emails to employees in an attempt to get them to click on a link. When they do that, hackers are able to access the network and steal data. School officials have not revealed if the data breach was the result of phishing.
