• DVM360_Conference_Charlotte,NC_banner
  • ACVCACVC
  • DVM 360
  • Fetch DVM 360Fetch DVM 360
DVM 360
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
By Role
AssociatesOwnersPractice ManagerStudentsTechnicians
Subscriptions
dvm360 Newsletterdvm360 Magazine
News
All News
Association
Breaking News
Conference Coverage
Education
Equine
FDA
Law & Ethics
Market Trends
Medical
Politics
Products
Recalls
Regulatory
Digital Media
dvm360 LIVE!™
Expert Interviews
The Vet Blast Podcast
Medical World News
Pet Connections
The Dilemma Live
Vet Perspectives™
Weekly Newscast
dvm360 Insights™
Publications
All Publications
dvm360
Firstline
Supplements
Vetted
Clinical
All Clinical
Anesthesia
Animal Welfare
Behavior
Cardiology
CBD in Pets
Dentistry
Dermatology
Diabetes
Emergency & Critical Care
Endocrinology
Equine Medicine
Exotic Animal Medicine
Feline Medicine
Gastroenterology
Imaging
Infectious Diseases
Integrative Medicine
Nutrition
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Orthopedics
Pain Management
Parasitology
Pharmacy
Surgery
Toxicology
Urology & Nephrology
Virtual Care
Business
All Business
Business & Personal Finance
Hospital Design
Personnel Management
Practice Finances
Practice Operations
Wellbeing & Lifestyle
Continuing Education
Conferences
Conference Listing
Conference Proceedings
Resources
CBD in Pets
CE Requirements by State
Contests
Veterinary Heroes
Partners
Spotlight Series
Team Meeting in a Box
Toolkit
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vet to Vet
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Advertisement
By Role
  • Associates
  • Owners
  • Practice Manager
  • Students
  • Technicians
Subscriptions
  • dvm360 Newsletter
  • dvm360 Magazine
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us
  • MJHLS Brand Logo

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences™ and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

UC-Davis student data breached by hacker

August 1, 2007
Krista Schultz

Davis, Calif.- A Computer Hacker Compromised The Personal Information Of 1,500 University Of California Davis School Of Veterinary Medicine (Svm) Students And Applicants, Leaving The Facility To Fund At Least $25,000 In Credit Checks To Ensure Identity Safety.

DAVIS, CALIF.— A Computer Hacker Compromised The Personal Information Of 1,500 University Of California Davis School Of Veterinary Medicine (Svm) Students And Applicants, Leaving The Facility To Fund At Least $25,000 In Credit Checks To Ensure Identity Safety.

Trying to establish campus computer accounts, students set to begin in the fall at UC-Davis SVM were told accounts already existed in their names, tipping off school officials to a breach in computer security in early June. It was the campus' third occurrence of protected information being accessed by an unauthorized party, but whether it will have the same result as the previous two — with no information being misused — is uncertain, says Pat Bailey, UC-Davis spokesperson. There were no reports of identity theft or improper use of the information at press time.

The hacker gained access to names, home addresses, Social Security numbers and birthdays of 1,495 SVM applicants — 1,120 applicants for the 2007-2008 school year, 131 of whom were accepted as students, and 375 applicants from the 2004-2005 school year, seven of whom are currently enrolled.

Upon learning of the situation, UC-Davis Dean Dr. Bennie Osburn sent a letter to all those affected, outlining the situation and recommending they initiate a credit check, funded by UC-Davis, to ensure the safety of their information. Admitted students were advised to change their computer passwords and security codes to prevent future system breaches, Bailey says.

Advertisement

Students were alarmed, but are taking precautions. "They were concerned, not angry. Concerned that they do the right thing, take the right steps to protect themselves. They were appreciative that the school was doing the credit checks," which students and applicants can request for up to a year, Bailey says.

With the investigation ongoing, police would not say whether they have any suspects, how the information was obtained or how long the hacker may have had access to the information before the breach was noticed.

UC-Davis is taking steps to improve security going forward.

"The university will be enhancing a number of prevention measures during the summer, including an intrusion-prevention system and a Web-application security scanner. The former technology will help remove malicious traffic from the campus network. The latter scanner will automate the detection of common security vulnerabilities in university Web-based computing applications," says Robert Ono, UC-Davis security coordinator for information technology.

Trendy theft

The incident reflects what the UC-Davis Police Department identified as an increasing threat nationwide.

"Identity theft is recognized by law enforcement as one of the fastest-growing crimes. The Federal Trade Commission estimates 9 million Americans fall victim to identity theft each year," says Lt. John Johnson, UC-Davis police.

Open, user-friendly systems and the level of personal information stored in university computer networks can make them an attractive target for hackers. Since 2006, almost 70 of more than 400 reported data breaches have occurred at major universities, according to Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, a consumer-information and advocacy group.

Computer systems typically are hacked to gain access to system information, utilize disk space for the storage of data files or programs or to gain control of a system to exploit other connected systems, Johnson says.

A direct benefit of having a student account at UC-Davis is access to the library system and online journals — free for those enrolled at SVM, but often costly for non-students to purchase and use, Bailey says.

Hackers can face a multitude of charges, including felony counts of unauthorized access to a computer and identity theft, Johnson says.

Related Content:

Education
Veterinary tech students awarded national scholarship
Veterinary tech students awarded national scholarship
FFAR and AAVMC are seeking applications for veterinary student research fellowships
FFAR and AAVMC are seeking applications for veterinary student research fellowships
Texas Tech professor inspires students with large animal surgery
Texas Tech professor inspires students with large animal surgery

Advertisement

Latest News

Kentucky Humane Society with Louisville Metro Animal Services to host mega adoption event

San Diego Zoo celebrates Andean bear cub twins

Spring’s pet toxins have sprung

IBPSA and Zoundz Music for Pets team up to reduce pet anxiety in pet care facilities

View More Latest News
Advertisement