No evidence that personal information was accessed on NCATE database

Hattiesburg – The University of Southern Mississippi began mailing letters Feb. 23 in reference to a database containing personal information on some 2,100 people who have acted as teacher mentors in the College of Education and Psychology since 1999.

 The database list, posted by the Southern Miss College of Education and Psychology, was on the Internet for eight days and included names, social security numbers and work location information on current and former teacher mentors. It was posted during activities regarding the university’s accreditation evaluation process by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

 According to Homer Coffman, the university’s chief information officer, an investigation concluded that there was no evidence that personal information was accessed, but given the seriousness of the issue, Southern Miss decided to send out a precautionary advisory letter to those teachers whose names were on the database. “We felt it was essential to notify them of the incident,” he said.

 Because potential risks associated with identity theft are serious, the school’s administration has taken precautionary steps to inform all affected about safeguarding measures aimed at protecting privacy. Hoffman advised individuals to consider submitting a fraud alert to the three national credit reporting agencies to decrease the risk of identify theft.

“We deeply regret this security breach,” said Dr. Willie L. Pierce, dean of the Southern Miss College of Education and Psychology.  “We have had strong relationships with teachers and schools over the years. We wanted to advise individuals to be extra alert to signs of possible misuse of their personal identities.”

Upon learning of the breach, Southern Miss Chief Information Officer Homer Coffman organized a task force of staff from the College of Education and Psychology, Information Technology, Office of Student Affairs and the Department of Marketing and Public Relations to address the issue. The university has put new measures in place to strengthen protection of sensitive data stored at the university and limit it only for essential needs.

The university has established a phone line at 601.266.6400 that will be staffed by Southern Miss employees to answer questions regarding the breach. Information is also available at http://www.usm.edu/itech/securityinfo.php.