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Date 3-24-06
Contact David Tisdale 601.266.4499
HATTIESBURG—The
University of Southern Mississippi began mailing letters Feb. 23
in reference to a database containing personal information on some
2,100 people who have acted as teacher mentors in the College of
Education and Psychology since 1999.
The database
list, posted by the Southern Miss College of Education and Psychology,
was on the Internet for eight days and included names, social security
numbers and work location information on current and former teacher
mentors. It was posted during activities regarding the university’s
accreditation evaluation process by the National Council for Accreditation
of Teacher Education.
According to
Homer Coffman, the university’s chief information officer, an investigation
concluded that there was no evidence that personal information was
accessed, but given the seriousness of the issue, Southern Miss
decided to send out a precautionary advisory letter to those teachers
whose names were on the database. “We felt it was essential to notify
them of the incident,” he said.
Because potential
risks associated with identity theft are serious, the school’s administration
has taken precautionary steps to inform all affected about safeguarding
measures aimed at protecting privacy. Hoffman advised individuals
to consider submitting a fraud alert to the three national credit
reporting agencies to decrease the risk of identify theft.
“We deeply regret
this security breach,” said Dr. Willie L. Pierce, dean of the Southern
Miss College of Education and Psychology. “We have had strong relationships
with teachers and schools over the years. We wanted to advise individuals
to be extra alert to signs of possible misuse of their personal
identities.”
Upon learning
of the breach, Southern Miss Chief Information Officer Homer Coffman
organized a task force of staff from the College of Education and
Psychology, Information Technology, Office of Student Affairs and
the Department of Marketing and Public Relations to address the
issue. The university has put new measures in place to strengthen
protection of sensitive data stored at the university and limit
it only for essential needs.
The university
has established a phone line at 601.266.6400 that will be staffed
by Southern Miss employees to answer questions regarding the breach.
Information is also available at http://www.usm.edu/itech/securityinfo.php.
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