2006年12月14日
December 12, 2006
Dear Friend,
UCLA computer administrators have discovered that a restricted campusdatabase containing certain personal information has been illegallyaccessed by a sophisticated computer hacker. This database containscertain personal information about UCLA's current and some formerstudents, faculty and staff, some student applicants and some parentsof students or applicants who applied for financial aid. The databasealso includes current and some former faculty and staff at theUniversity of California, Merced, and current and some formeremployees of the University of California Office of the President, forwhich UCLA does administrative processing.
I regret having to inform you that your name is in the database. Whilewe are uncertain whether your personal information was actuallyobtained, we know that the hacker sought and retrieved some SocialSecurity numbers. Therefore, I want to bring this situation to yourattention and urge you to take actions to minimize your potential riskof identity theft. I emphasize that we have no evidence that personalinformation has been misused.
The information stored on the affected database includes names andSocial Security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses and contactinformation. It does not include driver's license numbers or creditcard or banking information.
Only designated users whose jobs require working with the restricteddata are given passwords to access this database. However, anunauthorized person exploited a previously undetected software flawand fraudulently accessed the database between October 2005 andNovember 2006. When UCLA discovered this activity on Nov. 21, 2006,computer security staff immediately blocked all access to SocialSecurity numbers and began an emergency investigation. While UCLAcurrently utilizes sophisticated information security measures toprotect this database, several measures that were already under wayhave been accelerated.
In addition, UCLA has notified the FBI, which is conducting its own investigation. We began notifying those individuals in the affecteddatabase as soon as possible after determining that personal data wasaccessed and after we retrieved individual contact information.
As a precaution, I recommend that you place a fraud alert on yourconsumer credit file. By doing so, you let creditors know to watch forunusual or suspicious activity, such as someone attempting to open anew credit card account in your name. You may also wish to considerplacing a security freeze on your accounts by writing to the creditbureaus. A security freeze means that your credit history cannot beseen by potential creditors, insurance companies or employers doingbackground checks unless you give consent. For details on how to takethese steps, please visit
http://www.identityalert.ucla.edu/what_you_can_do.htm
Extensive information on steps to protect against personal identitytheft and fraud are on the Web site of the California Office ofPrivacy Protection, a division of the state Department of ConsumerAffairs, http://www.privacy.ca.gov
Information also is available on a Web site we have established,http://www.identityalert.ucla.edu. The site includes additionalinformation on this situation, further suggestions for monitoring yourcredit and links to state and federal resources. If you have questionsabout this incident and its implications, you may call our toll-freenumber, (877) 533-8082.
Please be aware that dishonest people falsely identifying themselvesas UCLA representatives might contact you and offer assistance. I wantto assure you that UCLA will not contact you by phone, e-mail or anyother method to ask you for personal information. I strongly urge younot to release any personal information in response to inquiries ofthis nature.
We have a responsibility to safeguard personal information, anobligation that we take very seriously.I deeply regret any concern or inconvenience this incident may cause you.
Sincerely,Norman Abrams, Acting Chancellor
idalert@identityalert.ucla.edu
posted by Biochemie on 11:47 下午
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