University of Hawaii Data Breach Settlement

The University of Hawaii has reached a class action lawsuit settlement involving five data breaches that occurred between 2009 and 2011, exposing the personal information of nearly 100,000 students, alumni and employees.

According to the University of Hawaii data breach class action lawsuit, the University allowed hackers repeated access to Class Members’ personal information, including their names, Social Security Numbers, birth dates and other extremely detailed personal information.

The breaches occurred at UHManoa, UH West Oahu, Kapio’lani Community College, and Honolulu Community College. Details about who was affected by these breaches and what information was made available can be found here.

The University of Hawaii settlement will provide Class Members with 2 years of free credit monitoring and fraud restoration services.

“Credit monitoring services may cost as much as $5 to $15 per month if purchased individually,” said Thomas Grande, one of the attorneys representing the class.

“We have researched more than 40 data breaches at colleges and universities across the country. In almost every instance, two years of credit monitoring and fraud restoration were offered to data breach victims,” said Bruce Sherman, who also represents the class. “Offering two years of credit monitoring and fraud restoration services to breach victims should be the standard response by any breaching entity in Hawaii, including government agencies.”

“Credit monitoring provides for continuous checking by a credit agency of a class member’s credit file. If there is suspicious activity, the class member is notified immediately and is given assistance to resolve the problem,” Sherman added.

The University of Hawaii class action settlement, which is still subject to court approval, will be administered by Kroll Background America, Inc., a firm specializing in providing credit monitoring and fraud restoration services.

Class members will be sent a letter by March 1, 2012 that will allow them to sign up for the credit monitoring services online. University faculty, students and alumni will also be sent emails to inform them of the credit monitoring services offered in the University of Hawaii data breach settlement.