A computer hacker accessed names and Social Security numbers of about 1.4 million Californians after breaking into a University of California, Berkeley, computer system in perhaps the worst attack of its kind ever suffered by the school, officials said Tuesday.
“The investigation is continuing but we have no idea if the (personal) information has been compromised,” said Carlos Ramos, assistant secretary at the California Health and Human Services Agency.
He said state agencies and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were investigating but the hacker had not been found.
The names accessed by the hacker were being used by a UC Berkeley researcher who had collected data on elderly people and individuals who provide in-home care to seniors to study the impact of wages on in-home care, Ramos said.
The data, which included home addresses, telephone numbers and dates of birth, was being used at the state’s authorization but without the consent of the individuals whose information was being used in the study.
Ramos said the state is authorized to share with researchers the personal information of individuals who participate in state programs administered by the state social services department.
George Strait, a university spokesman, confirmed the school’s computer system had been penetrated in what he believed was the most significant hacking job the university had experienced.
The university detected its computer system had been broken into at the end of August, but did not notify the state until Sept. 27 after the school had done its own investigation with the FBI, Strait said.
