University of Michigan Discloses 230,000 People Impacted By August Data Breach

ANN ARBOR – Hackers gained access to the personal information of up to 230,000 individuals through certain University of Michigan systems from Aug. 23 to Aug. 27, a UM spokesperson said Monday, the first the university has described the impact of the security breach.

The unauthorized third party was able to access personal information about certain students and applicants, alumni and donors, employees and contractors, University Health Service and School of Dentistry patients, and research study participants, according to the university.

When the university detected suspicious activity on its campus network, it disconnected its network from the internet because of what officials called a “significant” security concern. UM officials said they “took quick and decisive action to contain the incident.”

“On Monday, Oct. 23, in compliance with our legal obligations, we began the process of notifying approximately 230,000 individuals whose sensitive personal data was involved in the incident through postal mail and through notice on our website,” UM spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen said in a Monday night statement.

It was unclear how many overall individuals the UM keeps personal information on.