noffen@heraldsun.com; 419-6646
DURHAM -- Library users at Durham Technical Community College were not affected by a security breach that affected nearly 51,000 library patrons from 25 community colleges statewide.
The security breach occurred on a computer server that contained the borrowers' personal information, including Social Security or driver's license numbers.
Durham Tech wasn't affected because when the Community College Libraries in North Carolina recommended that all the state's community colleges cease storing Social Security numbers in patron records in 2007, the school followed the recommendation and discontinued using them.
The college has never recorded driver's license numbers for library use purposes.
"Because of the measures we had already taken, Durham Tech's library patrons were not at risk of having any personal information compromised by this incident," said Irene Laube, assistant dean for Durham Tech's library services.
Laube said college staff members examined every patron record and removed all Social Security numbers before July 1, 2007.
The breach occurred apparently on Aug. 23, 2009, when a computer hacker accessed the library patron information on the computer server, housed in the community college system office in Raleigh. The breach was discovered Aug. 24 during a routine security review and was reported to the state's Information Technology Service.
The system office's Information Services division immediately began an investigation to trace the activity of the attacker and the extent of the breach.
According to the investigation, so far there are no indications that any personal information was accessed by the intruder. However, library users with such information on the server will soon begin receiving letters explaining the attack, steps being taken to prevent future breaches and actions they may take to protect their credit and to ensure protection from identify theft.
Colleges affected in this area include Central Carolina Community College and Wake Tech.
