University of Massachusetts late in notifying alumni of security data breach

The University of Massachusetts at Amherst recently released news that nearly a year ago, hackers had access to a computer server at the university that had Social Security numbers and credit card information of students who attended the university in the past 20 years.

The vulnerability occurred in September through October of 2008, and the hackers have not yet been identified. Either way, signing up for a credit report monitoring service is a safe plan of action for those who may have been affected.

The delay in notifying those affected was explained by Patrick J. Callahan, a university spokesman. He told news reporters that even though the breach was discovered last fall, the notification was delayed until they could figure out what information was made vulnerable on the computer–a process that took several months.

Although they have since taken steps to tighten the security on the university servers, this hasn’t stopped hackers in the past. The University of Massachusetts at Amherst has been victim to security breaches in the past, something they hope to change.