Educational Security Incidents (ESI)

Quick Facts

• Date: 7/17/2007
• Institution: Louisiana State University System
• Type of Incident: Unauthorized Disclosure
• Number Affected: 163,000
• Source: ESI
• Abstract Source: KATC
• Update Source: WDSU
• Update2 Source: The Privacy Podcast

Abstract
The Louisiana Board of Regents announced that it has determined that information on students and staff at universities within the Louisiana State University system were left available to unauthorized individuals for an unknown amount of time. This information included information such as the names and Social Security numbers on groups of individuals including all 10th grade students within Louisiana students between 2001 and 2003 that took the state's Educational Planning and Assessment Plan test as well as any individual employed within the state university system between 2000 and 2001. An investigation is still ongoing to help determine what exactly happened, but the information has been secured and there is no evidence that it was accessed by any unauthorized individuals. The board first learned of the problem from Richard Angelico, a reporter at WDSU-TV in New Orleans.

Update
According to WDSU, it appears that this incident exposed information on 80,000 inidividuals and the information was available for as long as two years.

Update2
ESI received an e-mail from the The Privacy Podcast about this incident. Aaron Titus, from The Privacy Podcast, was the individual that initially discovered the files containing information on 200,000 individuals on the Louisiana State Board of Regents. The total number of Social Security numbers contained in these files is 163,000.

Quick Facts

• Date: 5/3/2007
• Institution: Louisiana State University
• Type of Incident: Theft
• Number Affected: 750
• Source: ESI
• Abstract Source: The Daily Reveille

Abstract
Louisiana State University is alerting students that their personal information might be at risk after a recent laptop theft. The laptop, stolen from a faculty member's Baton Rouge home, may contain personal information, including Social Security numbers, on 750 LSU students. Students are asking why it took LSU 11 days to send out an announcement about this incident. According to officials, the University has a 10 day notification period to allow for an investigation into the incident and to collect contact information on individual potentially affected by the incident. However, officials do state that part of the delay in this case was that the faculty member did not immediately realize that student information was at risk. According to Sheri Thompson, LSU IT Communication and Planning Officer, "People aren't necessarily aware of what they've got on their computers. Thinking about what was lost on the computer is sometimes an afterthought."