Stanford University suffers another data breach

Stanford University has suffered another IT breach, and while its scope is yet to be determined, all users of the university’s computer system are advised to change the password for their SUNet ID account immediately.

“As we learn more about the incident, this process may need to be repeated,” they said, and added that they have hired information security consultants and are working with law enforcement in order to determine the source and impact of the breach.

They also pointed out that, at this time, no protected health information, personal financial information or Social Security numbers seem to have been compromised, but that might change as the investigation goes forward.

“In recent months, a range of large organizations have reported attacks involving their information systems. Preliminary indications are that the breach at Stanford bears many similarities to these incidents,” they stated, but didn’t say whether this attack has been effected by “Ag3nt47”, the hacker who breached university’s defenses on May 14 and made off with personal info of some 1,400.

Stanford University is not new to data breaches, as it already had nearly half a dozen in the last 3 or four years. Most of them involved the theft of laptops or computers containing unencrypted personal and medical data of the staff and the patients treated at the university hospital, and one happened because some patient information was posted on a public website by mistake.