BREAKING: 63,000 Social Security numbers compromised in UCF data breach

The Social Security numbers and names of about 63,000 individuals associated with the University of Central Florida have been compromised in an unprecedented data breach, the university announced Thursday morning.

UCF officials say the university discovered the data breach in early to mid-January and immediately reported the incident to law enforcement.

Upon the conclusion of an internal investigation with the aid of a national digital forensics firm, UCF made the incident public Thursday morning. 

Those affected have not been notified yet but will be informed soon via mail. The school is to provide free credit monitoring and identity-protection services to those affected.

According to the university, those affected are mostly current and former employees as well as current and former student-athletes. 

Outside law enforcement is involved in the ongoing investigation.

UCF has set up a call center that concerned individuals can contact at 877-752-5527 between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. EST Monday through Friday. Additionally, a web page (http://www.ucf.edu/datasecurity/) has been set up with more information on who may have been affected, what information was taken and what is being done in response. 

“Safeguarding your personal information is of the utmost importance at UCF,” University President John Hitt said in a release. "To ensure our vigilance, I have called for a thorough review of our online systems, policies and training to determine what improvements we can make in light of this recent incident."