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CSU Chico Identities Compromised
MisterFuRR writes "California State University Chico is the latest victim of Identity theft. Aparently one of their "Food Service" machines was cracked and used to distribute "games, files, and other media". An official response is available." From the article: "The names of 15,500 current students, 1,000 faculty, 1,500 staff and former students going back about five years were in a database that was potentially compromised. The files also included information on prospective students."
Why oh why do people give out their SSNs even when registering for college courses? I work at a college and I went to college. You aren't required to give your SSN and when I register for courses now I certainly don't.
Colleges shouldn't even ask applicants for their SSN. Yeah, it's a real pain in the ass 12 years from now when you try and get your transcripts and you can't remember your student ID. I graduated in 2001 and I remember mine... Maybe I won't in 10 more years but I will know that I can be searched for by name and graduation date.
DO NOT GIVE OUT YOUR SSN TO ANYONE. If they ask then politely decline and ask if they will allow another ID number. Every college I know of has a student ID field.
Here we are pushing students to use their student ID instead of their SSNs (a good majority of students give us the wrong SSN anyway).
Have any of these people ever heard of data segregation?
Why on earth would a 'food service' computer either have on it, or have access to a list of prospective students? So they can preemptively issue dining cards in case of alien attack?
What the hell are these databases doing on machines connected to the internet?