On February 7, 2023, Mount Saint Mary College (“MSMC”) filed notice of a data breach with the Montana Attorney General after discovering that an unauthorized party accessed and potentially stole student and employee information that was stored on the school’s computer system. Based on the company’s official filing, the incident resulted in an unauthorized party gaining access to individuals’ names, Social Security numbers, passport numbers, email addresses and username/password combinations. After confirming that consumer data was leaked, MSMC began sending out data breach notification letters to all individuals who were impacted by the recent data security incident.

If you are a current or former student of Mount Saint Mary College, or you were ever employed by the school, you trusted the institution to safeguard your information. However, as we’ve discussed in previous posts, hackers regularly carry out cyberattacks in hopes of bypassing an organization’s data security system to access sensitive consumer data. Once a hacker obtains sensitive information like Social Security numbers, they can use this data to commit identity theft and other frauds. Ultimately, it’s up to schools and businesses to protect the information in their possession. Under U.S. data breach and consumer protection laws, those whose information was leaked may be able to pursue a claim for financial compensation through a data breach lawsuit.

What We Know So Far About the Mount Saint Mary College Breach

The available information regarding the Mount Saint Mary College breach comes from the company’s filing with the Montana Attorney General. According to this source, on December 20, 2022, Mount Saint Mary College detected a network security incident stemming from an unauthorized party attempting to access the school’s computer network by disabling certain systems. In response, Mount Saint Mary College secured its network and began working with IT specialists to learn more about the nature and scope of the breach and whether any student or employee information was leaked.

The Mount Saint Mary College investigation confirmed that the unauthorized party was able to access files containing confidential information belonging to current and former students and employees.

Upon discovering that sensitive data was made available to an unauthorized party, Mount Saint Mary College began to review the affected files to determine what information was compromised and which consumers were impacted. While the breached information varies depending on the individual, it may include your name, Social Security number, passport number, email address and username/password combination.

On February 7, 2023, Mount Saint Mary College sent out data breach letters to all individuals whose information was compromised as a result of the recent data security incident.

More Information About Mount Saint Mary College

Founded in 1960, Mount Saint Mary College is a private, Catholic, four-year liberal arts college located in Newburgh, New York. Mount Saint Mary College offers 50 undergraduate programs and three graduate degree programs. The school’s student body consists of more than 2,700 students. The college includes a private K-8 school, Bishop Dunn Memorial School. Mount Saint Mary College employs more than 564 people and generates approximately $67 million in annual revenue.