The following is the news release sent by COCC officials regarding the latest website hacking in COCC.:
May 6; 3 p.m.
Central Oregon Community College officials have identified some information on the COCC web site that may have been exposed as part of the recent unauthorized intrusion. COCC has taken down the web site while it works with law enforcement officials and industry security experts. It has been replaced by a single page with links to sites of importance to COCC students, faculty and staff but that are not part of the COCC web site. Email access is available via this temporary page.
Comprehensive student and employee information is NOT contained on the COCC website. The college is analyzing information to see if there is any additional cause for concern of personally identifiable information being accessed or any additional data bases which might have been exposed.
The information identified was from students who applied to the COCC nursing program for the current year, and for COCC Foundation scholarship for the next year. Neither set of applications include social security numbers or credit card numbers. They do include email addresses and COCC ID numbers.
Below is a copy of the email sent to students who applied to the nursing program. A similar email was sent to those with Foundation scholarship applications.
You are getting this email because either last year or recently, you applied to the COCC nursing program and your application is on file with us.
You may have heard that the COCC Web site has been “hacked” by someone from outside the country. We do not know whether or not anyone gained access to your application, but we do want to caution you that there is a chance this happened. We have taken that part of the Web site off line.
The college has been in touch with local and federal law enforcement officials for assistance in the investigation. At this time, it is unknown who is responsible for the activity or why the COCC website was targeted.
Do know that when we contact you, we will NEVER ask for social security numbers or credit card numbers. If anyone does ask for that information, please contact us immediately but do NOT respond to that email.
We will be back in touch with you once we conclude our investigation related to this incident. If you have questions or concerns, please direct them to feedback@cocc.edu.
Ron Paradis
Director of College Relations
Central Oregon Community College
541 383-7599
