14,000 students' information placed on insecure server

The personal information of 14,000 students, former students and faculty at Volunteer Community College in Gallatin, Tenn., was placed on a web server that was not secure.

How many victims? 14,000

What type of personal information? Full names and Social Security numbers.

What happened? Files containing the names and Social Security numbers of Volunteer Community College students, former students and faculty were placed on an unsecure server by school employees.

What was the response? A web site was created to provide more information on the situation. College officials said they notified all affected students and faculty, adding that one-year of credit protection will be given upon request to students whose personal information was on the server.

Details: The files containing the sensitive data were placed on a web server that was not protected. School employees believed it was secure because a login and password was requested for access, university officials said. There is no evidence that the information has been used inappropriately.

Quote: “We have contacted the major credit reporting agencies and informed them that some of our students' and faculty members' personal information may have been accessible,” said Bruce Scism, Volunteer Community College interim president.

Source: tennessean.com, The Tennessean, “Vol State: Personal information found vulnerable for 14,000 students, faculty,” April 30, 2012.