University of Florida College of Dentistry has notified nearly all of 344,482 current and former dental patients affected by a data breach.
College employees were upgrading a server October 3 when they discovered that an unauthorized user had accessed the data and remotely installed software. The hacker was able to access patients’ names, addresses, birthdates and Social Security numbers.
Even if this data breach had been the only such incident in UF’s recent history, the number of people affected makes it bad news. But, because there have been 15 others over the past year, it raises questions about how seriously the university takes privacy protection.
Data breaches at universities account for less than 5 percent of all data breaches, according to Rodney Petersen, security task force coordinator for a non-profit that promotes information technology in higher education.
He said it’s typical for a large university to have three to five incidents in the last couple years. “Having incidents in the double digits is probably larger than usual.”
“They aren’t doing enough to protect their clients’ information,” said George Baldacchino. His information was part of a data breach that occurred in 2005 when a laptop was stolen that contained records of 3,800 patients at Shands at the University of Florida.
Baldacchino says he’ll never go again to any of the clinics operated by the university. “Life is stressful enough.”
LifeLock’s identity theft protection can reduce the stress in your life, too. Visit their website at LifeLock.com to learn more about their comprehensive identity theft protection tools and processes, and find out why almost 1.5 million Americans have chosen Life Lock. Enroll using the LifeLock promotional code Defense and get a discount on service.
One Comment
I can’t say I feel bad for UF I hate that school. I hope that Tim Tebow’s information was in there. That would be a kick in the pants. Other than Tim Tebow I feel for the others who may have their identities stolen.