Cyber breach discovered on University of Connecticut servers

The University of Connecticut's School of Engineering.

The University of Connecticut's School of Engineering said it is responding to a “criminal cyber intrusion” where hackers possibly gained access to servers in 2013.

According to a report by UConn Today.com the hackers apparently originated in China.

The university said the breach, which was discovered in March, first occurred Sept. 24, 2013, with further penetration occurring after that date.

The Storrs, Connecticut-based university said while there is no direct evidence any data was removed from its School of Engineering's servers it is “proceeding from an abundance of caution” by notifying about 200 research sponsors in government and private industry. It said it is also working to determine how many individuals need to be notified about the potential compromise of personal information.

The university said it believes personally identifiable information of consumers may have also been compromised in the breach.

The university said malware was discovered in March by information technology staffers at the engineering school, which they found on a number of servers that are part of the schools' technical infrastructure. It said it began to notify its research partners about the breach last week.

The university said its information security office, in collaboration with the engineering school and a security firm, is working to identify the extent of the breach, secure the affected systems and prepare a comprehensive review and response.

A university spokesman could not immediately provide insurance coverage information.

Pennsylvania State University said in May that two cyber attacks at its College of Engineering, including one in 2012 that originated in China,compromised servers containing information on about 18,000 people.