FBI Probes Theft of Data From Stanford’s Network

The FBI is investigating a computer security breach at Stanford University that resulted in the theft of personal information, including letters of recommendation and Social Security numbers, for nearly 10,000 people.

The breach happened May 11, when someone gained access to the school’s network from outside the university, Debra Zumwalt, Stanford’s general counsel, said Wednesday.

The university would not say how the breach occurred.

Stanford began mailing notifications Monday to about 300 recruiters and 9,600 others, mostly students, who had visited the school’s Career Development Center since 1996. The electronic dossiers generally did not include financial information such as credit card numbers or driver’s license numbers.

The mailings complied with a state law that took effect in 2003, requiring organizations to notify California residents whenever personal information has been compromised. So far, school officials say, there has been no evidence of identity theft resulting from the breach.

When the university learned that someone had improperly gained access to the network, security officials temporarily disabled the career center’s computers and reported the incident to the FBI’s San Jose field office.

“Protection of confidential information is a high priority of Stanford,” Zumwalt said. “Since this incident, we have been working to understand this breach of our system and ways to prevent a reoccurrence.”