Data breach hits UNC at Chapel Hill

2009-09-28

A data breach has hit University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill in which around 163,000 women's social security numbers may have been affected, according to reports.

The breached server contained data on around 236,000 women in all and the information comes from a mammography research project.

Matthew Mauro, chairman of the UNC Department of Radiology, revealed that the breach was identified in July, although the IT intrusion could have taken place two years ago.

The project's chief researcher Bonnie Yankaskas spoke to the News & Observer, for an article on news-record.com, commenting: "This is the worst thing that could possibly happen.

"We go through all these measures to make everything secure and then a hacker comes along and turns it upside down."

UNC is part of a select group of American and Canadian campuses which form the Association of American Universities. The institution covers more than 100 fields, including bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees.

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