They were never intended to be used in that manner:
Posted on 03/14/2008 2:01:03 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Harvard student database hacked, posted on BitTorrent
By Robert Vamosi, CNET News.com
Friday, March 14, 2008 12:03 PM
Harvard University says about 10,000 of last year's applicants may have had their personal information compromised.
At least 6,600 Social Security numbers were exposed. Worse, a compressed 125 M-byte file containing the stolen student data is currently available via BitTorrent, a peer-to-peer network.
In a statement published Monday night Harvard officials said the database containing summaries of GSAS applicant data for entry to the Fall 2007 academic year, summaries of GSAS housing applicant data for the 2007-08 and 2006-07 academic years, and administrator information had been compromised. The server had been taken offline for several days last month to investigate the extent of the problem.
Most troubling are the 6,600 summaries from admissions candidates from the United States that were copied. Harvard officials said the data includes the applicant's name, Social Security number, date of birth, address, e-mail address, phone numbers, test scores, previous school attended, and school records.
A BitTorrent file containing the stolen data includes a note that reads in part "maybe you don't like it but this is to demonstrate that persons like tgatton(admin of the server) in they don't know how to secure a Web site." The BitTorrent file consists of a server backup of the GSAS site with a full directory structure and three databases: joomla.slq, the main database; contacts.sql which is a database of contacts; and hgs.sql, a miscellaneous file.
Harvard University has informed the affected students, and apologized for the error. The university said it would provide identity theft recovery services from Kroll Inc. to those who might potentially be affected.
Ping!
I wonder if Harvard is liable.
Social Security numbers should not be used as identifcation.
ping
I agree.
Yep.
Do you really think that the “we know better” elitists of Harvard really care what the law says?
Sure they do, because they make up the laws as they go, ergo: they care very much about what the ‘law’ (as they define it) says on any given day.
As long as the ‘law’ is compatible with their own world view.
thanks, bfl
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