A 27-year-old woman, previously enrolled at a local university, has been arrested following a police investigation into alleged hacking and fraud activities that impacted hundreds of staff and students. Authorities arrested her following an early-morning raid on her Kingswood residence, which took place Wednesday. They took the opportunity during the operation to confiscate a wide range of different devices.
The investigation was initiated after the university reported some odd activity that, upon further inspection, triggered alarms over the state of its systems. Due to this investigation, police had enough cause to direct their investigation to the woman’s apartment in Kingswood. During the raid officers seized over $125,000 in computer equipment. They further seized mobile phones, which may have provided even deeper insights into the state of the case.
On top of these four fraud-related charges, the former student is charged with hacking-related offences. If true, these allegations would mean that she illegally leaked sensitive information. Such a move would have exposed the sensitive information of countless faculty, staff, students and others affiliated with the large research institution.
University officials are continuing to investigate the breach. They’re hustling to figure out the full impact and how it will be felt on staff and students. As a result, it is being reported that hundreds of thousands of people have already been impacted — leading to fears of potential identity theft and data security breaches.
The woman is set to appear in court on Thursday, where she’ll meet her charges head-on. The case has received national and even international interest. As such, it raises significant questions regarding security at the university level and the protection of personal data in schools at all levels.
