Hacker Hits Berkeley Computer; Accesses 1.4 million social security numbers

Reuters has just reported that a hacker has broken into a university computer and was capable of viewing the names and social security numbers of 1.4 million people. Many of them are either elderly or peope who take care of the elderly. The FBI is now investigating how he got into the system. It is unknown what was done with the information or if anything else was compromised. The hacker remains at large.

Two things are interesting in this article. First, it mentions that the researcher who stored the information on the computer was able to get their information from the state without the consent of those people. Second, the incident happened in late August and was reported to the state on September 27, after Berkeley had done its own investagation. So, the report comes out nearly 2 months after the incident and 1 month after the state had found out (Berkeley was given time to complete the investagation without having to report it). What happened in between that month with the state report and this one?

Followup: The visiting scholar issued a statement in attempts to clear her name. The Oakland Tribune has the story.Email This Post!