Security Breach at UCLA

Your information is only as safe as the databases it's kept in. You can take every precaution to secure your private information, but if there is a security breach at your job, bank, school, etc., you are still at risk. As I've said in the past, everyone is a potential identity theft victim. The best we can do is secure things at our end and try to minimize the damage if we are hit by identity thieves.

Most companies and institutions are aware of the sensitivity of customer and employee data and take precautions to keep this information out of the wrong hands. Unfortunately, they are not always successful (as we know from my insider identity theft post). The most recent breach was detected at UCLA. A hacker has gained access to a restricted UCLA database containing names and personal information of current and former students, faculty and staff, applicants for financial aid, and more. UCLA is notifying those who have information in that database and are investigating how much information the hacker gained and whether or not it has been fraudulently used. They have set up a website for those who were in the database as well as anyone else who feels they have been affected by this breach, and they recommend certain precautions be taken to protect one's credit.

While this is definitely not a positive thing, UCLA seems to be handling it properly. Notifying potential victims and recommending security precautions, such as placing a fraud alert on one's credit report to prevent or at least minimize fraudulent accounts being opened, is a good way to keep consumers' trust despite security issues. Now, let's see if they can take the precautions to prevent this from happening again.

If you are a current or former student of UCLA or think your name may have been in this database, check out this site.