Data Breach Alert: More than 17,000 VCU students impacted

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June 10th, 2009 - Posted by Caitlin

Last week, Virginia Commonwealth University sent letters to 17,214 current and former students, notifying them that their names, Social Security numbers and test scores may have been exposed when a computer was stolen from the school library. VCU is offering the impacted individuals one year of identity theft insurance. Another 22,500 students have been notified that their names and test scores, but not their Social Security numbers, have also been compromised. VCU identified students by their Social Security numbers until January 2007, but now uses computer generated student identification numbers instead.

This breach draws attention to two areas of vulnerability in guarding one's own identity. When universities and other organizations rely on Social Security numbers for identification, those Social Security numbers are often recorded in databases that are not adequately secure. This places countless individuals at a greater risk for identity theft. Stolen computers are also a common source of data breaches and identity theft. Our NextAdvisor.com guide, How to deal with a lost or stolen laptop, details some of the ways you can prevent or mitigate the costs and risks associated with missing computers.

To learn about identity theft protection services, see our reviews and comparison chart.