November 21, 2009
For immediate use

(DURHAM, N.C.) – Durham Technical Community College’s library patrons are not affected by the library computer security breach that was recently announced by the North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS.)  The breach was caused by unauthorized access to a computer server that hosts library patron information. When the Community College Libraries in North Carolina (CCLINC) recommended that all of the state’s community colleges cease storing Social Security numbers in patron records in 2007, Durham Tech discontinued using them. Also, the college has never recorded driver’s license numbers.

According to Irene Laube, assistant dean for the Durham Tech’s Library, staff members examined every patron record and removed all Social Security numbers before July 1, 2007. “Durham Tech’s library patrons are not at risk of having their personal information compromised by this incident,” she said.

Although some of the state’s community colleges libraries stored Social Security and driver’s license numbers in their patron records, NCCCS officials do not believe that this data was accessed. The NCCCS library server provides a data entry system for cataloging and tracking library materials for 46 community college libraries. The server is accessed by more than 270,000 patrons. NCCCS officials think the recent compromise was limited to the operating system and the installation of “chat” software. The affected colleges are notifying 9,000 patrons of the security breach.