A hacker stole data from forms on 14 York University websites, going back to 2007. Contact details and student ID numbers could fuel convincing scam messages.
York University in Toronto says a hacker stole personal information that people typed into online forms on 14 of its websites. The affected forms go back to 2007, so some of the stolen data is almost two decades old.
The university found the break-in on October 25. It says forms submitted between 2007 and 2026 were affected. What was taken differs from person to person, but most records held basic contact details and York ID numbers. York says it moved quickly to contain the incident and that the forms are now secure and safe to use.
Contact details plus an ID number give scammers something believable to work with. A fake email that uses your name and York ID can look real. Anyone who ever filled out a York department form should treat unexpected messages with extra care.
People whose government ID or bank details were exposed will be told directly and offered two years of credit monitoring and identity theft protection. Others who get no notice can contact the university to ask what was exposed in their case. The alert box above lists the steps to take.
York has not said how many people are affected. It is a large school, with more than 55,700 students, so the number could be big. Nothing has been shared about who carried out the attack, and BleepingComputer did not find any ransomware group claiming it.
If you ever filled out a York University web form, doubt any unexpected message that mentions York or your York ID, and ask the school what of yours was exposed.
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