Florida DOE alerting recent teacher prep students of personal info exposed

Dear College of Education Students and Alumni:

We want to alert any current or former students enrolled in Florida teacher prep programs–including the University of Florida’s–during the 2009–10, 2010–11, and 2011–12 academic years of the possibility that personal information was exposed on the Internet during a data transfer at Florida State University. FSU was housing the data under contract with the Florida Department of Education.

In late May, FSU’s Florida Center for Interactive Media moved the data to a new server, but failed to enact security measures to restrict access to only authorized individuals.The DOE learned about the security breach on June 11 and worked with FSU officials to close the access, clear all cached data files and run security checks. The DOE has been contacting affected individuals whose information could have been misused.

Although UF was not involved in the information security breach, we are assisting the DOE in notifying any individuals whose information may have been exposed. We also want to reinforce the DOE’s efforts in pointing affected or concerned UF students and alumni to appropriate resources for additional information . . .

Florida Department of Education Press Release: http://www.fldoe.org/news/2013/2013_06_21.asp

 

Dedicated hotline within the Florida Department of Education with staff available to answer questions: 1-866-507-1109.

If you suspect that your Social Security number or other personal information may have been misused or that you may be the victim of identity theft, please also contact the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov/idtheft or call 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338).

Feel free to contact UF’s College of Education Student Services Office with questions or concerns: 1-352-273-4376.