In a release on September 7, 2017, Equifax, one of the “big three” US credit bureaus, said on July 29 they discovered “unauthorized access” by attackers to the company’s systems jeopardizing Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, and some drivers license numbers of 143 million Americans. The hackers were able to gain access to the data by exploiting a vulnerability in one of the applications that houses those files. For more information about the breach visit www.equifaxsecurity2017.com, or get a third party analysis of the breach at www.krebsonsecurity.com.
Protecting data at TU
The Office of Information Security reminds faculty and staff that they can help prevent data breaches at Towson University by storing confidential and personally identifiable information (PII) in approved locations. PII includes information like Social Security, passport, and credit card numbers. To learn more about data privacy and identity theft prevention at Towson University, visit www.towson.edu/dataprivacy. Another way to strengthen our protection is to update your NetID password and security questions. Visit www.towson.edu/netid to for details on managing your security settings.
If you have questions about data privacy at TU, or would like more information, please submit a TechHelp service request.
