Hackers strike at UCLA

In one of the worst computer breaches ever at a U.S. university, an unknown hacker has infiltrated a massive database with personal information of 800,000 students, faculty and administrators at the University of California, Los Angeles.

The attackers started probing the system in October 2005 and were able to get social security numbers, names and dates of birth for an unrevealed section of the victims.

This highly urbane assault capitalized on a software flaw to crack the computer system was noticed and shut down in late November 2006. UCLA now plans to send out letters to potential victims, as required by California law.

Meanwhile, an emergency investigation has been initiated by the university authorities. The FBI has also begun a probe.

The University had no suspects. Jim Davis, UCLA associate vice chancellor of information technology said, "We definitely do not know who it is yet. All indications so far are that this is a malicious, targeted attack and well orchestrated. And the other thing that was unnerving to us was that it was orchestrated in such a way so that it covered its tracks."

The incident has raised a hue and cry among privacy advocates, who are now questioning the way universities maintain their electronic records. Beth Givens, director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse said, "To me it begs the question, why was the university even retaining the Social Security numbers of students? At the very least they should have been encrypting them."

The university is the latest among a growing list of companies, colleges and government agencies to reveal that its computer security had been breached. In 2005, a database at UCLA's cross-town rival USC containing 270,000 names was infiltrated.

Earlier this year a U.S. Veterans Affairs laptop containing data on 26 million veterans and service members was stolen from a staffer's home. Computer security experts aver that the sheer number of people exposed in the ULCA attack made it one of the largest ever perpetration against an American university.