Higher Ed Tops In Data Breaches

Educational institutions reportedly have had more information security breaches than government, business, financial service, and health-care companies and are twice as likely to report breaches as other entities.

According to Ron Ben-Natan, chief technology officer at database security and monitoring first Guardium, “College and university databases are the ideal target for cyber criminals and unscrupulous insiders [because] they store large volumes of high-value data on students and parents…. At the same time, these organizations need open networks to effectively support their faculty, students, and corporate partners.” Even if the data are not used immediately for identity theft, the risk remains, as names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth don’t change.

New York Times, 18 December 2006 (registration req’d)