A sophisticated computer hacker was able to breach the security system of two Lorain County Community College servers in an attack during the Thanksgiving holiday break. One of the servers contained records of approximately 22,000 students, community users, and employees and their Social Security numbers. The breach is being investigated by forensic experts and the FBI.
It is believed that the hacker was not attempting to steal information or identities, but rather to pirate available server space. With available server space, hackers can take those crimes to a whole new level by launching underground Web sites that bounce from one IP address to another undetected.
Colleges and universities are targeted because they have strong, robust bandwidths. The capacity that a college or university has is greater than what businesses and individuals may have. Other colleges and universities in Ohio have been targeted in similar ways. Ohio University, Miami University and Antioch College all have experienced security breaches in recent years.
