Ferris State University has officially closed its investigation into the July 23 discovery of unauthorized software on its network.
The investigation, which was led by the university and Navigant Consulting, Inc., found no evidence to suggest any information was viewed, taken or misused.
On Sept. 24, Ferris announced it was sending a second and final round of notices to 62,630 individuals whose Social Security and campus wide identification (CWID) numbers may have been accessible. Affected individuals included current, former and prospective students, faculty, staff and patients affiliated with the Michigan College of Optometry.
“Taking aggressive action early and confronting this issue was consistent with the university’s core value of behaving in an ethical and transparent fashion,” wrote Jerry Scoby, Ferris vice president for administration and finance, in a press release. “We are focusing now on further strengthening the security of our systems to help protect the information provided to us.”
The university is offering free credit monitoring services for one year to individuals whose Social Security numbers were accessible.
In addition, Ferris is conducting a complete IT systems review to evaluate its computer systems’ security.
Ferris learned July 23 that an unauthorized person had breached network security and gained access to the names and Social Security numbers of approximately 39,000 students, faculty and staff. Additionally, 19,000 former, current and prospective students’ names and CWID numbers were accessible.
Students and university employees with questions or concerns can contact the data security incident call center at (877) 332-6271.