Breach, Data Security

Arkansas State Univ. notifies 50K of Social Security number breach

At Arkansas State University (A-State), full and partial Social Security numbers were compromised for about 50,000 early childhood practitioners after unauthorized access was gained to databases related to the Traveling Arkansas Professional Pathways (TAPP) Registry.

How many victims? Approximately 50,000. 

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

What happened? Unauthorized access was gained to a TAPP databases that stored the information.

What was the response? Computer servers containing the databases were taken down while an outside security consultant addresses the issues. The TAPP website was taken down while the investigation is ongoing. All impacted individuals are being notified.

Details: A-State was notified of the breach by the Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS). Since December 2013, A-State had been transferring TAPP Registry files to the DHS, which will be taking over the registry in July. Information was not compromised for A-State students, faculty or staff that did not participate in the TAPP Registry.

Quote: “We have confirmed unauthorized access to data, but we have no reports regarding illegal use of the information in these files,” Henry Torres, chief information officer with A-State, wrote in a notification posted to the A-State website.

Source: astate.edu, “Arkansas State Reports Data Breach Related to DHS Childhood Services,” May 30, 2014.

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