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May 18, 2012

ULM addresses computer security breach

ULM officials have notified 121 individuals their personal information may have been compromised.

The security breach occurred when the e-mail account of a university employee in the Upward Bound Program, a federally funded program at ULM, was hacked.

University officials immediately began compiling contact information for those affected. The breach was isolated to the employee's email account. No other university informational systems were at risk.

The security violation occurred Saturday, May 12 and by Wednesday, May 16, ULM notified all but 30 of those individuals, whose contact information is currently unavailable.

The affected individuals include 35 post-secondary students—students who enrolled as freshmen at ULM but did not return after their freshman year; 83 high school students which were prospects for the Upward Bound program; two former ULM employees who worked within the TRIO program and a current ULM employee in the TRIO program.

The compromised information included names, addresses, telephone numbers, and other personal information, said Vice President for Student Affairs Dr. Wayne Brumfield.

Anyone who participated in ULM’s Upward Bound Program between 2009 - 2012 are urged to contact Dr. Catherine Estis, Executive Director of Trio Programs at 318-237-5741.

Concerned individuals may also visit a special informational Web site at www.ulm.edu/breach

In an effort to further safeguard confidential and personal information, ULM's Computer Center will conduct mandatory information technology security training for ULM employees.

“Protection of one’s personal and confidential information is a top priority on this campus, and we are taking this incident very seriously,” said Brumfield.

Those who believe their personal information may be at risk should take appropriate precautions to protect against identity theft.

Several government and consumer advocacy Web sites have complete information about identity theft protections:

Federal Trade Commission

Privacy Rights

U.S. Department of Justice

Credit Reporting Bureaus:
Equifax: www.equifax.com
Trans Union: www.transunion.com
Experian: www.experian.com

More about TRIO:
Upward Bound is part of TRIO, which is a federal outreach and student services programs designed to identify and provide services for individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.

PLEASE NOTE: Some links and e-mail addresses in these archived news stories may no longer work, and some content may include events which are no longer relevent, or reference individuals and/or organizations no longer associated with ULM.