National Student Clearing House Data Breach

AUGUST 16, 2023-- The National Student Clearinghouse (NSC), a provider of student data reporting and exchange for most colleges and universities in the United States including Allan Hancock College, was among several organizations recently impacted by a data breach. 

On August 15, 2023, Allan Hancock College was notified that 9,679 current and/or former students’ data was involved in the breach. The NSC confirms that no Social Security numbers, student identification numbers, or dates of birth associated with Allan Hancock College students were identified within the data breach. Hancock sent email notifications to all Hancock students and employees with this information.

It is important to note that no systems operated or maintained by Allan Hancock College were breached, as this incident is localized to the National Student Clearinghouse. This event specifically involved the MOVEit file transfer software, which NSC uses to accept data transfers.  

Hancock is encouraging all students to follow these commonplace recommendations to safeguard their information:

• Monitor credit cards and bank accounts: Regularly review your accounts and promptly report any suspicious activity to your financial institution.
•  Learn about fraud alerts and credit freezes: Learn about proactive measures that can help safeguard against identity theft or misuse of your personal information if it was compromised. Further information on these measures can be found at https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/what-know-about-credit-freezes-fraud-alerts.
• Exercise caution with suspicious emails or communications: Refrain from opening or clicking on links in emails, texts, or messages from unknown individuals.
• Update passwords: It is advisable to create longer passwords. Always use unique passwords for each website or application you access.

The safety and security of student information is extremely important to Allan Hancock College. Hancock will continue to update this page as additional information becomes available.

Additional information about the data breach may be found on the NSC website at https://alert.studentclearinghouse.org/.