Quick Facts

• Date: 9/24/2009
• Institution: University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
• Type of Incident: Penetration
• Number Affected: 160,000 [Updated]
• Source: DataBreaches.net
• Abstract Source: News-Record.com
• Update1 Source: NewsObserver.com

Abstract
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is working to notify thousands of women after a breach of a server containing a medical study was discovered. The server, one of two involved in a 14-year project analyzing mammography results, contained data on 236,000 women including 163,000 Social Security numbers. The breach was detected in July and UNC-Chapel Hill officials hired an outside forensic firm to help investigate the breach. After two months, the University still does not know who is responsible for the breach of if the data on the server was downloaded. According to the chairman of the UNC-CH Department of Radiology Matthew Mauro, the breach have been as much as two years old. The breach has caused the UNC-CH Medial School to reevaluate all computer security measure. The University held off notification letters until the investigation was completed and will soon begin notifying all those affected.

Update1
The recent security breach at UNC-CH was less severe then first thought. According to officials, the files accessed contained information on 160,000 women including 114,000 Social Security numbers. The University has setup a hotline - 877-434-3065 - to help answer questions about the breach and the investigation.