A security breach at the University of Hawaii is said to have involved the personal information of some 40,000 students, reports a local news station.

Students personal information including students Social Security Number, date of birth, name and grade was made available via the Internet from November 2009 until October 2010. Officials say the information was posted online, accessible to just about anyone after a UH professor accidentally place the personal information onto a non-encrypted web server while conducting a study of student success rates.

The campus has already begun sending out letters and emails to all those who may have been effected. Officials said that the Web server was primarily used by faculty, but it could also be obtained by anyone who knew where to look. The university also noted that there have been no signs of malicious activity involving the files uploaded.

The security breach involves students who attended the UH Manoa campus from 1990 to 1998 and in 2001, and students who attended UH West Oahu from 1988 through 1993.

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