It isn’t only laptop computers that seem to grow legs and walk away anymore. Even desktops have become a popular target for thieves looking for some easy money. Sure, more and more people are stealing catalytic converters and while it is a pain to have to spend $200-$1000 to get a new one it is a lot cheaper than having someone on the internet buy your identity for next to nothing and creating headaches for you for the rest of your life. Whether or not the person who stole the computer from the office at the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina had the intention of just a few easy bucks for a computer or identity theft, it isn’t clear at this point yet.

What is clear as the facts have been coming in is that over the Memorial Day weekend one of the offices at the Moore School was broken into and many items were stolen, including the desktop computer. The computer was the workstation of Deputy Dean Dr. Scott Koerwer. While there is no information at this point that any of the personal data on the computer was actually accessed, the university is taking a proactive stance and alerting the affected people. In total over 130 staff and faculty have been notified and 7,000 students need to keep an extra eye on their financial status. The faculty and staff is only currently employed, so if you had worked at the Moore School in the past, your data is not at risk. As for the student body, the 7,000 students were registered for classes in the business department in the last year, both undergraduates and graduate students.

The break-in is under investigation by the university’s department of public safety and there are currently no leads. This issues has raised the question of USC’s security policy for private information. Although no official would speak on the record, one person familiar with the security systems at the university said that files are encrypted and that procedures are set in place so that private data is contained only on stationary computers that remain on campus at all times. This is in an effort to prevent this type of breach from happening at the homes of individuals who deal with sensitive material. Students and faculty were sent a letter which advised them to keep an eye out for suspicious activities and steps that they should take to safeguard their finances.

One of the measures that is recommended is placing a fraud alert with one of the credit bureaus. Companies, like Lifelock, offer this type of ID theft subscription service. They alert all three credit bureaus and make sure that credit card and loan applications are actually being opened by the person named on the account. If anyone associated with the USC break-in has more questions, they are advised to contact the department of public safety.