Bristol Community College has reported a data breach that exposed more than 50,000 Social Security numbers. The disclosure was made on May 10th, with notification letters sent to the 56,400 victims, although only 277 reside in Maine.
The college said it discovered “unauthorized access” to its network by suspected threat actors between December 14th and 23rd, although according to the Maine Attorney General, the college only discovered this on April 10th.
The college launched an investigation with cybersecurity professionals to locate and repair the breach, which exposed the victims’ names and Social Security numbers.
The college says that as far as it is aware, no identity-based fraud has occurred as a result of the data theft. It has offered the victims free annual credit monitoring to protect them from such scams.
Bristol Community College apologized for the incident and said it is committed to evaluating its internal controls and instituting further security measures to protect personal information.
The incident is likely an embarrassment to the college, which offers courses in cybersecurity training as part of its wide-ranging roster of disciplines.
