ORONO, Maine - A data breach discovered Feb. 10 has exposed the sensitive information of nearly 1,000 current and past students at University of Maine.
"What we know is that a University of Maine laptop computer and media card, used by a faculty member, were stolen from a checked bag," says Margaret Nagle, public relations director for the University of Maine.
Nagle says a faculty member was flying from Seattle to Boston, and immediately reported the incident upon finding the checked items gone. All the students potentially affected were enrolled in physics courses at the university, dating as far back as 1999.
The Social Security numbers of 604 students have been exposed, as well as addresses, names, grades, and other information. Names and course information were exposed for the remainder.
"As of today, there's no indication that the data has been used," Nagle says. She says those affected are being offered free credit monitoring services.
