LOS ANGELES, July 9 (UPI) -- A hacker penetrated a University of Southern California database, putting personal information of 270,000 applicants at risk.
USC officials told the Los Angeles Times they believe the hacker looked at only a few files.
"All of our forensic analysis tells us that there was no massive download of data," said L. Katharine Harrington, dean of admission and financial aid.
Information security officer Robert Wood said the hacker was a prospective student who discovered the security flaw, looked at a few files and then notified an online security company of what he had done. That company notified USC.
The database was part of a Web site for online applicants and included names, addresses and social security numbers for applicants going back several years.
Wood said the FBI has been notified about the incident, but he said criminal charges are unlikely.
