HOLLAND, Mich. — The legal woes began mounting for Holland-based Hope College this week in the aftermath of a September data breach.
Critics accuse the embattled college of keeping it silent for months prior to taking the news public in mid-December.
The Michigan attorney general has called the scale of data affected ‘massive.’
In a media release issued in December, the College revealed affected information may include:
- Names
- Social security numbers
- Birth dates
- Student ID numbers
“It's hard to imagine how deep it can run if it's 155,000 people potentially impacted,” Corrie Hillary noted. “It's scary to think about… how big it could be.”
Hillary graduated in 2003. The Fremont native told 13 ON YOUR SIDE she came from a long line of Hope alumni, listing her mother, sister and father as graduates.
Just as her chosen school runs in the family, so do emerging security concerns shared by tens of thousands of fellow former students.
The academic tenures of those affected appeared to span decades.
“She's a ‘77 grad and she got the letter as well, so at least back to '77,” Hillary explained, referring to a notice from their alma mater that had recently arrived by mail.
The letter warned alumni who may have been caught up in the breach, offering complimentary credit monitoring services to guard against potential fraud.
Hillary, who lived in Florida at the time of publication, initially dismissed the notice as junk mail.
“It was almost 20 years ago that I graduated, I just kind of thought, oh, this is just, you know, bulk mail out of an abundance of caution,” she said. “It was a little bit more serious than I thought.”
A lawsuit filed on behalf of affected students this week sought more than $5 million from Hope College, in addition to class action status.
It marked the second court filing in days to accuse the College of wrongdoing.
In a statement emailed to 13 ON YOUR SIDE, the college said it wouldn’t comment on pending litigation but explained the delay had been on account of a full, ‘forensic’ review of who and what had been affected.
The statement continued:
“On or around September 27, 2022, Hope College discovered potential unauthorized access to its network. Upon discovery, Hope College immediately began working with its IT team, and third-party forensic and legal specialists were engaged to conduct a full forensic investigation. These third-party specialists determined that certain sensitive information kept in the normal course of business may have been subject to unauthorized access. The information believed to be at risk includes individuals’ first and last names, in combination with date of birth, Social Security number, driver’s license number, and Student ID number. No financial information for individuals was at risk.
Once it was discovered that certain files may have been accessed by an unauthorized party, Hope College undertook a comprehensive review process to identify what personal information, if any, was present within the potentially impacted files, and to whom that information belonged. That process was completed on November 8, 2022.
Hope has worked diligently to notify all potentially affected individuals as quickly as possible via U.S. mail to their most recent address… Hope College takes this incident extremely seriously and will continue to work with third-party specialists to enhance its security posture and further protect the information it maintains.”
Another statement addressed pending litigation, in addition to the delays and security issues at its center:
"As a matter of policy, Hope College cannot comment on pending litigation. Hope College took great care to conduct a complete and thorough investigation, which required time to properly analyze and secure our systems, identify potentially impacted individuals, and prepare resources to help our community protect its information. Additionally, we have reported this matter to federal law enforcement and are cooperating with their investigation."
“I don't want to be one of the statistics,” Hillary said, explaining that she had begun taking steps to ensure her data would remain secure.
“I'm taking the steps to act with an abundance of caution,” she noted. “I haven't noticed anything yet, so hopefully it doesn't {materialize}.”
In a media release, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel advised potential victims to do the following:
- Monitor credit
- Freeze credit report
- Set fraud alert on credit report
For Nessel’s full statement and additional resources, visit the Michigan Attorney General’s website.
To take advantage of Hope College’s credit monitoring offer, potential victims should consult the letter they received with regard to next steps.
Alumni may also reach the call center at 1-833-540-0798 or reference guidance established on Hope College’s website.
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