Campus community urged to sign up for credit monitoring after cyberattack

Campus officials are strongly encouraging all members of the campus community to promptly sign up for free Experian credit and identity theft monitoring services following the announcement from the University of California last week of a serious cyberattack involving UC files.

Deans, chairs, managers and others will be asked to inform their colleagues about the seriousness of the cyberattack and the urgent need for action.

This is part of a national cyberattack involving several hundred institutions across the United States. According to UC officials, the hackers gained access to, and posted on the Internet, files including names, birthdates, Social Security numbers and bank account information. 

Jenn Stringer, UC Berkeley’s chief information officer, said that members of the campus community should act as if their information has already been compromised, which means taking prompt action as soon as possible today.

UC Berkeley professor Anthony D. Joseph, an expert on internet security, also noted that this particular attack warrants prompt action. He is encouraging everyone to reach out to their campus colleagues and students to encourage them to enroll as soon as possible.

Experian will provide credit monitoring and identity theft protection, which includes monitoring the dark web for any postings of an individual’s personal information. 

All members of the campus community, including students, can sign up for one year of free monitoring. Enrollment codes can be found in a Cal Message sent to the campus community on Friday, April 2. Sign-up codes can also be found on this University of California website.

According to UC officials, employees with minor dependents should enroll their dependents as well. Employees with dependents over age 18 should have them enroll. Beneficiaries should also enroll. Enrolling takes anywhere from 30 to 60 minutes.

Additional resources:

• Information Security Office web page on identity theft
• Identity theft recovery steps 
• Federal Trade Commission’s identity theft website 
• Contact the Attorney General’s office for the state you live in for more resources 

Stringer encourages anyone with suspicious emails or telephone calls to report them to campus IT staff at [email protected] . Do not click on any links in suspicious emails or reply to the sender.