Univ. of Colo. has 3rd hacker attack

BOULDER, Colo., Aug. 2 (UPI) -- The University of Colorado at Boulder said 29,000 students and 7,000 staff were vulnerable to identity theft from a hacker attack -- the third in two weeks.

A hacker last Wednesday gained access to data from the university's identity and access card, called Buff OneCard. Buff OneCards contain Social Security numbers, names and photographs.

The university said there was no indication personal information had been stolen, but said Monday it had notified students and staff and would replace the cards starting Wednesday.

University of Colorado officials caught the intrusion with stepped-up monitoring since two earlier hacker attacks.

"It's too early to say that it's the same people," IT Security Coordinator Dan Jones told the Denver Post of the three incidents since July 21.

School officials said the hacker in the two earlier incidents broke in from a server in France, the Boulder (Colo.) Daily Camera reported.

The university decided in April to convert its system to one that uses unique student numbers, rather than Social Security numbers, on student ID cards.