The University of Minnesota shared on Thursday that it suffered a huge data breach over the summer, according to a recently concluded investigation into the breach.
The breach was discovered in July, and after the almost two-month investigation, the university says the incident has potentially affected students and prospective students dating back to 1989.
The breach has also affected employees and those who participated in University programs during the same time.
"The safety and privacy of all members of the University community are a top priority, and the University has increased its vigilance in securing information that it maintains," the university said in a press release. "Scans of the University’s electronic systems have not revealed ongoing suspicious activity related to this incident."
Officials at the university say sensitive information may have been accessed, including "student contact information and parent or guardian names and addresses, student email addresses, Social Security number, student ID number, date of birth, classes, grades, demographic information, insurance policy number, loan data, degree, and diploma year."
Those potentially affected will receive an email from the university alerting them to the breach and offering 12 months of credit and identity monitoring free of charge.
The email from the university will come from data-incident@notification.umn.edu and will provide more detail about the steps being taken to correct the data breach.