NU hacker identified as UNL student
May 30th, 2012
Omaha, NE – University of Nebraska officials announced Wednesday that a suspect has been identified in a major security breach of a system-wide database.

University of Nebraska officials say the person who allegedly hacked into a system-wide database is a UNL student. (Photo credit NET News)
In a statement from the university, UNL Police Chief Owen Yardley said the suspect is an undergraduate student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. “We have seized computers and related equipment belonging to a UNL undergraduate student who we believe is involved in this incident,” Yardley said. “They are currently in the hands of law enforcement and undergoing analysis.â€
Yardley said the name of the individual will not be released until an arrest is made. The person was identified by NU Computing Services personnel who tracked the IP addresses used to access the system.
The breach was discovered May 23 and involved over 650,000 personal records of students, alumni, applicants and their parents at the four campuses of the University of Nebraska system. The records were housed in an electronic database, and included Social Security numbers, addresses and financial aid information dating back to 1985.
Joshua Mauk, NU information security officer, said the university has been working with law enforcement since the breach occurred to determine how the database was accessed and whether any information was downloaded. The university began notifying students and the public of the breach late Friday. Yardley said police asked the university not to release any information about the incident in the first 48 hours, while they worked to identify the hacker.
The university has set up a website with more information: nebraska.edu/security. A toll-free number will be made available Friday.
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Major security breach at University of Nebraska
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