According to Liz Latt and Beth Fortune in Public Affairs, a professor's desktop computer, containing the names and social security numbers of 7,174 current and former students, was stolen some time during the weekend of Feb. 6.
Letters were sent on March 10 and 11 to the 7,171 current and former students, alerting them of the situation and that they had been offered, free of charge, 12 months of identity protection, credit monitoring, credit alerts and a $1 million identity theft insurance policy by Debix Identity Protection Network.
Of those students, 1,173 are current undergraduates, and 174 are current graduate students.
According to Public Affairs, the desktop belonged to a professor who kept a database of his grade book, including social security numbers for some students. Provost Richard McCarty sent a letter Tuesday, March 16 to all academic deans advising them to purge information like this from their files and to not collect it in the future.
Individuals who are affected can visit the Vanderbilt has created and call Development and Alumni Relations at .
Check InsideVandy.com tomorrow for more. Hannah Twillman contributed to this story.
