One of the oldest institutions of higher education in the United States recently suffered from one of the newest and pervasive forms of crime. Officials reported in mid-February that someone had gained access to private and highly sensitive information off of one of the Harvard University servers. The server also contained personal information about a number of applicants and current students, although this material was believed safe until further investigations showed the data breach was wider than originally believed.

Initially, statements from Harvard noted that the servers contained personal data, but that it has not been compromised. As time went on, however, authorities came forward with the troubling news that numerous students were now at risk for identity theft. In total, over 10,000 personal records were accessed and out of this 10,000, there were over 6,500 social security numbers taken. The university also reported that Harvard Student ID numbers were also taken, although these do not pose the same security risk as do the social security numbers.

The breach occurred on the university’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences’ server, although no one has been indicated as a suspect in the crime. There has also been no indication of how long the data breach was taking place before system authorities were notified and shut down access to the server. This is just one in a long string of data breaches that have hit the collegiate education system in the United States. However, Harvard has shown itself to be one of the best responding universities.

CIO Daniel Moriarty reported to the media that, although there was some initial hope that the student data was safe, it was his unfortunate duty to report that these hopes were no longer valid. The university has assured students that it will do everything in its power to help combat any instances of identity theft that might result from this breach. One of the most basic steps the university is taking is “notifying the individuals who have been impacted and lining up the [identity theft] services for those individuals.” Similar services have been available at other institutions, although there has been a greater lag time between the data breach and the purchase of the ID theft services.

Although used by students, one of the services available to anyone concerned with protecting their identity is Lifelock. The company provides credit monitoring through all three bureaus and alerts the subscriber before any loan applications or credit cards are opened in their account. For a minimal monthly fee, subscribers have reported having a better piece of mind and more confidence that their identity will remain secure.

*In an alarming piece of news, Harvard University students affected by the data breach in February have more to worry about. In mid-March investigators found that personal data from the university server had been posted on the peer-to-peer file transfer system known as BitTorent. This has effectively spread the social security number and private data to millions of individuals.