University of Chicago Suffers Data Breach

A compromise of a database at the school’s Department of Medicine exposed the Social Security numbers of students and employees.

A letter published on Feb. 19 by the university's Biological Sciences department states the school “learned” of the breach on Jan. 22.

The letter does not state when the breach occurred or how long the hackers had been inside. Nor does it state who discovered the intrusion. 

Officials wrote that a team from the university has restricted access to the database, and the institution has pulled in forensics experts to "confirm the nature and scope of the unauthorized access."

According to the university, the data affected belongs to students currently enrolled in the Department of Medicine, as well as current and former employees, contractors and students once affiliated with the department. Information stolen includes names, SSNs, employee IDs, username, sex and marital status, as well as some physical addresses and email addresses.