Greensboro College to Blame for August 2023 Cyberattack, Class Action Alleges

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Greensboro College faces a proposed class action that claims deficient cybersecurity on the part of the private liberal arts college resulted in an August 2023 data breach.

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The 49-page Greensboro College data breach lawsuit relays that the personal information of more than 52,000 individuals was compromised when cybercriminals infiltrated the North Carolina college’s computer systems. According to the defendant’s data breach notice letter, an investigation following the ransomware attack determined that the unauthorized access occurred between August 10 and August 21, 2023.

Per the suit, the cyberattack may have exposed individuals’ names, Social Security numbers, student identification numbers, dates of birth, passport numbers and certain health information.

The data breach case contends that the incident stemmed directly from Greensboro College’s failure to take “basic” measures to protect the sensitive information, which was allegedly stored unencrypted in its network.

“This information, while compromised and taken by unauthorized third parties, remains also in the possession of [Greensboro College], and without additional safeguards and independent review and oversight, remains vulnerable to additional hackers and theft,” the complaint charges.

The lawsuit alleges that as a result of Greensboro College’s negligent conduct, data breach victims now face a “present, immediate, and ongoing” risk of fraud and identity theft they must now deal with “forever.”

The suit also asserts that the college unreasonably delayed notifying data breach victims until late February 2024, roughly six months after the incident was purportedly discovered. In addition, the notice letter “completely downplays and disavows the theft” of victims’ personal data and omits critical facts about the incident, the case contends.

The plaintiff, a former student at Greensboro College, says she has “never been fully informed about the scope of the intrusion, the vulnerabilities exploited, the remediation required or the vulnerability of [her] data that remains in the possession of the defendant.”

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States whose private information was accessed or acquired during the data breach that Greensboro College stated occurred between August 10 and August 21, 2023.

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