Cal Poly Notifies Students of Possible Data Breach

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly is mailing letters to approximately 7,000 current and former students, notifying them of a computer security problem that could affect them, according to Tim Kearns, Cal Poly's chief information officer.

On Oct. 3, campus information technology employees discovered that a computer virus known as a "worm" had infected a computer system used in conjunction with the campus telephone billing system.

Further investigation showed that personally identifiable information was present in the computer system, which included the name and Social Security number of students who lived in the campus residence halls and had a campus telephone account between the years 2001 and 2005.

"While there is no indication that any of the private information was accessed, we take any breach of our security system seriously and are sending notification letters consistent with the California Civil Code," Kearns said.

"The campus has been moving away from the use of Social Security numbers for identifying individuals and reducing the amount of personally identifiable information stored on computers. Where possible the systems that use such data are being phased out as quickly as possible" he added. "We regret any inconvenience this may cause our current or former students."

Individuals who do not receive a letter are not affected, he pointed out. However, students or former students with questions about the matter can contact him at

805-756-2966 or tkearns@calpoly.edu.

Alternately, they may contact Vicki Stover, Cal Poly's chief information security office at (805) 756-2171 or vstover@calpoly.edu.

Additional information can be found at http://www.security.calpoly.edu

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