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Applicants told of personal data breach

   July 16, 2006

   Northwestern University began sending letters and e-mails Friday to about
   17,000 student applicants whose personal information may have been stolen
   from the university's computer system.

   Officials realized in May that hackers had access to names, addresses and
   Social Security numbers stored on nine desktop computers, and they have
   spent the last two months investigating the incident. The security breach
   happened after troubleshooting software, which allows technical support
   staff to access computers remotely, was installed on the computers.

   The affected computers were in the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid.
   The computers were shut down after the security breach was discovered.

   There is no evidence the hackers accessed the personal information when they
   tapped into the computers, but Northwestern is contacting the individuals
   anyway. They include students who applied for admission or financial aid
   during the last six to eight years, said university spokesman Al Cubbage.

   "There  is  no  evidence  that  files that had personal identification
   information ... were accessed or downloaded," Cubbage said. "They may not
   have even known they were on those computers. But it may have occurred. That
   is why we're sending out notifications."

   Anyone who thinks their records may have been involved in this incident can
   call  888-209-0097 or e-mail: university(underscore)enrollment@northwe
   stern.edu.
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