Published Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Cowetans' personal data on stolen laptop

The Newnan Times-Herald

Approximately 40 Cowetans are among the past or present University of West Georgia students whose private information may have been compromised in a computer theft

"It looks like there were approximately 40 students with Newnan area addresses," according to Sheryl Marlar of UWG's communications office. All of the affected individuals have been contacted by West Georgia officials.

West Georgia has its main campus in Carrollton and a satellite campus in Newnan. Many Cowetans have matriculated at West Georgia.

The university is investigating the theft of a faculty member's laptop computer that may have put numerous individuals at risk for identity theft. Personal information that could include name, address, phone, student ID number or Social Security number was on file.

Information on a total of 1,292 individuals is believed to have been stored on the laptop.

According to Kathy Kral, interim chief information officer, the university has communicated by letter to the affected individuals at the last known address to inform them of the potential disclosure of personal information.

The laptop was stolen when the faculty member was traveling overseas last summer and a report was filed with UWG University Police. The faculty member, however, did not indicate -- at the time of the incident report -- that the computer contained sensitive personal information.

The potential exposure of the private data was discovered when the university recently learned that a computer with improperly configured software, utilized by the same faculty member, may have allowed the exposure of university files over the Internet.

"Prior to 2004, Social Security numbers were used as the student ID number, but that is no longer the procedure," Kral said on March 16. "There has been no report to the university that any of the information was actually misused."

All individuals contacted were encouraged to review the Federal Trade Commission Web site at -- www.consumer.gov/idtheft. They also received instructions on how to contact the credit bureaus to file a fraud alert on their credit file and to carefully review their credit reports for signs of questionable activity.

By following the steps recommended, individuals can minimize the chance of identity theft, Kral said. For more information the security incident, contact the UWG's Incident Security Task Force at 678-839-6585.