The University of California was a target of a cyber attack in late March, which resulted in the theft of personal student information such as email addresses, passwords, and most concerningly, social security numbers. The UC has provided those affected with one year of free identity/credit monitoring. 

We believe the free identity monitoring should be offered for the lifetimes of students affected by the data breach. Many of us have already received notifications from Experian that our social security numbers have been found on the dark web. The website that Experian identifies as exposing our information: universityofcalifornia.edu

One year of credit monitoring will not protect us, the threat of identity theft now that our socials have been exposed will not suddenly disappear after one year. We are at a greater risk of having our identities stolen for the rest of our lives. 

Many of us are just coming out of college, or will be leaving college soon, and entering a period of our lives where credit scores are increasingly important. Good credit is needed for rental agreements, homeownership, loans, getting credit cards, and car purchases. Identity theft could drastically alter our credit scores and create additional barriers for accessing housing, loans, credit cards, and transportation. Further, many of us have been struggling financially throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of us simply cannot afford the financial losses and upheaval caused by potential identity theft that we are now at elevated risk for. 

Free lifetime identity/credit monitoring is the bare minimum the UC / Accellion should be offering as a result of this disaster.