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Protecting Your Identity against Theft

This Web site originally was established to provide information about a December 2006 incident in which a sophisticated computer hacker illegally accessed a UCLA database. Approximately 800,000 people whose names and certain personal information were in the database were notified. It was further determined that the Social Security numbers of approximately 28,600 people in the database were illegally retrieved by the hacker.

A detailed and thorough investigation by the FBI subsequently found no instances of identity theft or credit card loss associated with the breach. The FBI has closed the case.

UCLA takes seriously its responsibility to safeguard personal information and regrets the inconvenience caused by any illegal and fraudulent activity. Following the breach, UCLA launched a comprehensive review of all information security measures to accelerate enhancement that were already in progress. In recent years, UCLA has added and strengthened firewalls and intrusion detection systems, and increased vigilance in identifying threats and securing servers. In addition, access to Social Security numbers has been restricted to only those with a compelling business need, and Social Security numbers have been removed from most computer screens and printed reports.

UCLA advises caution if you are contacted by someone who claims to represent UCLA and asks for personal information. The university will not contact you and ask for your full Social Security number, bank account or other personal information.

If you believe you are the victim of identity theft, immediately report the crime to your local law enforcement agency, contact any creditors involved and notify the credit bureaus. Detailed information is available on the identity theft victim page on the California Office of Privacy Protection Web site, http://www.privacy.ca.gov.

If you have any questions related to the 2006 breach, you may still call Jackie Reynolds at 310-206-8044.

For important general information about protecting yourself against identity theft, please see the list of additional resources on this site.