Posted On April 7, 2023 Consumer Privacy & Data Breaches
April 7, 2023 – After discovering that sensitive student data had been accessed and removed from the university’s computer system by an unauthorized third party, Our Lady of the Lake University (“OLLU”) issued a data breach alert on its website on March 31, 2023. According to the company’s announcement, the incident led to the exposure of customers’ names, birth dates, driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, passport numbers, bank account information, banking credentials, OLLU ID numbers, and government ID numbers. In response to the recent data security incident, OLLU has begun delivering data breach notification letters to all persons who may have been affected by the release of customer data.
It is crucial that you know what is at stake if you get a data breach notification. The data breach lawyers at Console & Associates, P.C. are conducting an investigation into the OLLU data breach on behalf of individuals whose personal information may have been compromised. Our Lady of the Lake data breach victims who are interested in learning more about the risks of identity theft, what they can do to protect themselves, and what legal alternatives may be available to them are being offered free consultations as part of this investigation.
Known to locals simply as “The Lake,” Our Lady of the Lake University is a Catholic institution with many degree programs, including Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctoral degrees. The main campus of OLLU is located in San Antonio, Texas; however, the university also maintains branches in both The Woodlands and the Rio Grande Valley. Our Lady of the Lake University, which was founded in 1895, is currently home to around 3,100 students. More than 598 individuals are employed by Our Lady of the Lake University, and the institution as a whole brings in around $78 million a year in revenue.
On August 30, 2022, OLLU learned that an unauthorized entity had acquired access to its computer network, as stated in a notice issued on the company’s website. While it is unclear how the attacker gained entry to the system, OLLU has hired outside experts in cybersecurity to aid in its investigation since learning of the breach.
The investigation by OLLU revealed that the hacker gained access to sensitive student data stored in some files on the university’s computer network. Since making this discovery, investigators at Our Lady of the Lake University have been combing through the affected files to identify what data was stolen and from whose customers. Your name, date of birth, driver’s license number, Social Security number, passport number, bank account information, banking credentials, OLLU ID number, and government ID numbers may have been compromised, although the specific data compromised will vary from person to person.
Letters informing those whose personal information was stolen in the current data security issue were sent out by Our Lady of the Lake University on March 31, 2023.
Although the concept of a data breach is familiar to the general public, few realize the profound effects it may have on an individual’s life. Identity theft is just one of many types of fraud that can be committed with stolen personal information. Resolving identity theft can take victims of data breaches months and can cost them thousands of dollars.
Data breaches are becoming increasingly widespread, and they can cause major issues for the victims. More than 420 million people in 2022 had their personal information compromised. And the amount of data breaches doesn’t seem to be declining. Given the prevalence of data breaches and the severe repercussions that identity theft may have, it is crucial that consumers be aware of the steps they can take to safeguard their personal information.
This is not an all-inclusive list, but here are some things to do after discovering a data breach. If your financial account numbers or Social Security number were compromised in a hack, for instance, you may want to take extra safety measures.
A data breach letter will be mailed to you once a company has experienced a data breach. In fact, corporations in the United States are required to notify victims whenever they experience a leak of consumer information in accordance with data breach legislation. Notifications of a data breach were sent out by Our Lady of the Lake in March of 2023. These letters detail what happened, what the company has done to avoid such incidents from happening again, and whether or not any other victims have reported fraud or identity theft. Therefore, the first step is to examine the data breach notification thoroughly to ascertain whether or not your information was exposed and, if so, in what ways.
Passwords should be changed immediately following any data breach, no matter how innocuous the material may seem. Password-reset security questions should be updated as well. It’s tempting to just update the compromised accounts’ passwords, but hackers who gain access to your social network or online store accounts may be able to access other sensitive information about you as well. If two-factor authentication is available, make use of it.
If hackers do manage to get their hands on your personal information, they will likely try to use it as soon as possible. Yet it’s possible that hackers would need to collect more data in order to successfully take your identity. In many cases, hackers may not be able to make use of the compromised data for several weeks or months. By now, you may have lowered your guard, and hackers can take advantage of the situation if you aren’t vigilant. As a result, you should monitor your accounts sometimes for a few months following the hack.
The three major credit bureaus all provide free fraud alerts and credit freezes. If you suspect that someone is using your personal information without your permission, you can issue a fraud alert to warn businesses that check credit. When you put a freeze on your credit, no one may access your credit history without your permission, giving you an extra layer of security. The Identity Theft Resource Center recommends, among other things, placing a credit freeze on your accounts after a data breach.
The consumer privacy lawyers at Console & Associates, P.C. help customers affected by data and security breaches pursue legal solutions by offering free consultations. By explaining your rights in clear, concise terms, we help you make an informed decision about your next steps. If you are a victim of the Our Lady of the Lake University data breach, Console & Associates, P.C. will investigate at no charge to you and offer advice on how to proceed. If you decide to pursue a case, rest assured that we don’t get paid unless you do. If your claim is successful, legal fees are either paid out of the funds recovered or by the defendant. If your claim is not successful, you pay nothing.
To schedule your free consultation, just call (866) 778-5500 today or fill out our secure contact form.
Below is a portion of the notice posted to their website:
The privacy and security of the personal information we maintain is of the utmost importance to Our Lady of the Lake University.
What Happened? We discovered unauthorized access to our network on or around August 30, 2022.
What We Are Doing. We immediately launched an investigation in consultation with outside cybersecurity professionals who regularly investigate and analyze these types of situations to analyze the extent of any compromise of the information on our network.
What Information Was Involved? Based on our comprehensive investigation and document review, which concluded on March 3, 2023, we discovered that a limited amount of personal information was removed from our network in connection with this incident, including full names and one (1) or more of the following: Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, passport numbers, government identification numbers, Our Lady of the Lake University identification numbers, dates of birth, bank account information, and/or online credentials.
What You Can Do. To date, we are not aware of any reports of identity fraud or improper use of any information as a direct result of this incident. Out of an abundance of caution, we provided written notification of this incident commencing on or about March 31, 2023 to all those potentially impacted to the extent we had a last known home address. The notice letter specifies steps affected individuals may take in order to protect themselves, including enrolling in complimentary credit monitoring services if their Social Security number was impacted, placing a fraud alert/security freeze on their credit files, obtaining free credit reports, remaining vigilant in reviewing financial account statements and credit reports for fraudulent or irregular activity, and contacting their financial institutions to inquire about steps to take to protect accounts if their bank account information was impacted.
For More Information. Please accept our apologies that this incident occurred. We are committed to maintaining the privacy of personal information in our possession and have taken many precautions to safeguard it. We continually evaluate and modify our practices and internal controls to enhance the security and privacy of personal information. Individuals with questions concerning this incident or who would like to determine if they were impacted may call a dedicated and confidential toll-free response line that we have set up to respond to questions at 833-570-2976. The response line is available Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 8:00pm, Eastern Time.
