A data breach discovered in mid-March at the University of Tampa has pushed the Florida institution to enlist credit reporting agency Experian to monitor the credit records of those affected. The breach encompassed 6,818 students.
A text file containing sensitive information such as social security numbers and date of birth was inadvertently made publicly accessible by the university. The information was subsequently indexed by Google and made available via public search.
The breach was found by two students during a class exercise on search techniques. Google was notified and the information was removed from the search engine. There is no indication that the information was used for illegal purposes.
