Security News > 2023 > February > Stanford University discloses data breach affecting PhD applicants

Stanford University disclosed a data breach after files containing Economics Ph.D. program admission information were downloaded from its website between December 2022 and January 2023.

Last week, the university sent data breach notification letters to those who submitted personal and health information as part of the graduate application to its Department of Economics, informing them that their info was accessed without authorization.

"On January 24, 2023, Stanford was notified that a folder containing the 2022-23 application files for admission to Stanford's Department of Economics' Ph.D. program was available through the department's website because of a misconfiguration of the folder's settings," the university told affected individuals.

Social Security Numbers and financial data were not exposed during the incident because application files did not contain this type of data.

"The confidentiality, privacy, and security of personal information are among our highest priorities, and we have security measures in place to protect this type of information," Stanford added.

This incident follows an April 2021 data breach disclosed after the Clop ransomware group leaked documents stolen from Stanford School of Medicine's Accellion File Transfer Appliance platform.

News URL

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/stanford-university-discloses-data-breach-affecting-phd-applicants/