University reports personal, medical information stolen

Washington State University announced Friday it is notifying individuals and entities around the United States whose personal information may be compromised after a hard drive containing the data went missing.

Phil Weiler, WSU's vice president for marketing and communications, said the university discovered April 21 that an Olympia storage unit where the hard drive had been stored in an 85-pound combination-locked safe had been broken into.

"The padlock was cut," Weiler said. "The safe was the only thing missing."

Weiler said the information, which included about 1 million names, Social Security numbers and in some cases personal health information, was gathered by WSU's Social and Economic Sciences Research Center over years of survey work in various areas of the country.

The center used the storage unit to house backup files off-site in case of fire.

Weiler said the university has completed an internal review, notified police and hired a computer forensics firm to aid in the investigation.

There is currently no indication the information has been accessed or misused, but the university will provide free identity protection services to those whose information was on the hard drive.

Weiler said the university has spent the past several weeks tracking down addresses for individuals whose information was on the drive and began mailing notification letters Friday.

The last letters are expected to be dispatched next week, once the university has obtained the last of the addresses.

For more information, visit wsu.edu/security-incident and for questions, call 866-523-9195 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.