University of Nevada, Las Vegas officials announced today that University network security personnel have detected what they believe to be computer hacker activity in one of the University servers. University officials have reported the incident to the FBI.

During routine security monitoring, unusual network activity was detected and led security administrators to investigate further. Subsequent investigation of the suspicious activity revealed that a hacker had accessed a server at UNLV that housed data for the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).

SEVIS is a system of information that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services requires universities to maintain in regard to international students and scholars.

According to Dr. Lori Temple, associate provost for information technology, the server housed about 5,000 records that could have been accessed by the hacker. "The security protocols we have in place allowed us to detect this activity, and our team took immediate action to protect the data and initiate the investigation."

"We are notifying individuals whose information may have been compromised," said Dr. Rebecca Mills, vice president for student life. "UNLV is working closely with the FBI and other agencies to investigate the incident and protect those who may have been affected."

University personnel will continue to monitor this situation. An internal review is being overseen by the UNLV information technology security officer, a former FBI senior computer security specialist.

UNLV encourages those who have been notified that they may be affected by this incident to take advantage of these resources:

Federal Trade Commission resources on identity theft

U.S. Customs and Immigration Services information about international travel