DTCC library patrons not affected by security breach

This just came across my e-mail:

Durham Tech Library Patrons Not Affected by Security Breach

(DURHAM, N.C.) – Durham Technical Community College’s library patrons
are not affected by the library computer security breach the North
Carolina Community College System (NCCCS) recently announced. The breach
was caused by unauthorized access to a computer server that hosts
library patron information. When the Community College Libraries in
North Carolina (CCLINC) recommended that all of the state’s community
colleges cease storing Social Security numbers in patron records in
2007, Durham Tech followed the recommendation and discontinued using
them. The college has never recorded driver’s license numbers for
library use purposes.

According to Irene Laube, assistant dean for the Durham Tech’s library
services, college staff members examined every patron record and removed
all Social Security numbers before July 1, 2007. “Because of the
measures we had already taken, Durham Tech’s library patrons were not at
risk of having any personal information compromised by this incident,”
she said.

Although some of the state’s community college libraries stored Social
Security and driver’s license numbers in their patron records, NCCCS
officials do not believe this data was accessed. The NCCCS library
server provides a data entry system for cataloging and tracking library
materials for 46 community college libraries. The server is accessed by
more than 270,000 patrons. NCCCS officials think the recent compromise
was limited to the operating system and the installation of “chat”
software. The affected colleges are notifying 9,000 patrons of the
security breach.