Incident Details
Gaston College is facing additional legal challenges as Ludenia Archie and Shaquasia Eppes, two former students, have filed new lawsuits regarding a data breach that occurred earlier this year, compromising the personal data of more than 100,000 individuals. The cybersecurity incident on February 21 led to unauthorized access by a hacker to confidential documents, resulting in the exposure of personal details like names, Social Security numbers, and other private information belonging to approximately 191,000 individuals. Despite the breach occurring in February, Gaston College took about six months before notifying those impacted by the security breach.
Incident
How Did the Breach Happen?
A hacker gained unauthorized access to confidential documents and subsequently made them public, resulting in a security breach.
What Data has been Compromised?
Around 191,000 individuals had their personal information, including names, Social Security numbers, and other private data, compromised in the security breach.
Why Did the company's Security Measures Fail?
The security protocols put in place by the company were unable to stop the hacker from gaining unauthorized access to confidential documents and sharing them on the internet.
What Immediate Impact Did the Breach Have on the company?
Multiple lawsuits were filed against Gaston College as a result of the breach, which also tarnished its reputation.
How could this have been prevented?
Implementing stricter security measures and promptly notifying those impacted could have averted this breach.
What have we learned from this data breach?
The significance of upholding strong security protocols and promptly informing those impacted by a data breach is underscored by this recent incident.
Summary of Coverage
Lawsuits have been brought against Gaston College by two ex-students, claiming that a breach of data led to the exposure of personal details of more than 100,000 individuals. This breach happened when an unauthorized user gained access to confidential records and disclosed them on the internet, putting at risk the identities, Social Security numbers, and other private data of around 191,000 people. Gaston College received backlash for delaying approximately six months to notify the impacted parties. The incident brought harm to the college's reputation and led to various legal actions being taken against it.