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The personal information of some Oregon State University students and faculty members may have been compromised during a computer security breach, officials said.
A hacker accessed a computer server for the university’s Ecampus online education program this summer, gaining access to records containing the names and OSU email addresses of about 1,700 students and faculty.
The university made the announcement on Thursday and said in some cases, the hacker also gained access to their personal mailing addresses and phone numbers.
No Social Security numbers or financial data were exposed in the incident, according to university officials.
“We discovered the security incident on July 27, undertook an investigation of the breach and contacted state and federal authorities, including the FBI,” OSU spokesman Steve Clark said.
The hacker has not yet been identified, but the FBI is pursuing a criminal investigation, Clark added.
OSU has since taken steps to eliminate the security issues that allowed the breach to happen and has put the server back in operation with the new security measures in place.
The university has notified everyone affected by the breach and is offering free credit monitoring and other services.
Clark said such cyberattacks are becoming more common. The last computer security breach at OSU happened in May 2019 and affected 630 records.