SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Missouri State University officials announced on March 3 that the university experienced a data breach in which the Social Security numbers of more than 6,000 students were compromised. The university learned of the breach on Feb. 22.
In October and November of 2010, the university compiled nine lists of student information that were meant to be posted on a secure server, OzarksFirst.com reports. The lists, which were only intended to be seen by authorized personnel, were actually accessible to the general public and ended up on Google. MSU has begun to take disciplinary action against the employee who posted the lists.
The university has worked with Google to remove the lists. They had only been accessed a few dozen times and, according to investigators, it does not appear that those who accessed them were attempting to gather social security numbers.
MSU is offering to pay for a year of consumer identity theft protection for the affected students, which would cost the institution approximately $42,210.
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