University of Chicago Computers Hacked, Social Security Numbers Stolen

Posted on March 9, 2015


The university of Chicago was hacked – The officials got to know in January, 2015 that social security numbers and other sensitive information was compromised.

The university of Chicago was under a massive cyber attack where unknown hackers breached into the computer networks stealing person details of staff and students.

According to reports the duration and exact date of breach has not been disclosed, but a letter from the university officials shows they learned about the breach on January 22, 2015.


The stolen database contained social security numbers, names, marital status, usernames, gender and employee identification numbers.

Initial investigation revealed the data belonged to students from the Department of Medicine, contracted, former and current employees.

The number of impacted individuals remains undisclosed.

A letter published on February 19, 2015, Mr. Kenneth Goodell and Mr. John Ultmann (both are Executive Administrator at the Department of Medicine) it was mentioned that personal emails of some were also compromised by the hackers.

Despite the massive breach, university officials claim there was no financial data in the database so there is no way of stealing financial information of the university or its staff. However, there is a chance of identity theft at large scale with the stolen social security numbers.

The university of Chicago is offering free identity protection for all those affected by the breach.