USC students warned after laptop disappears

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The University of South Carolina is warning some students that their personal information, including Social Security numbers, may have been stored on a laptop stolen from a campus building.

The State newspaper of Columbia reports (http://bit.ly/12uN8nq) the school sent letters to 6,300 students.

USC spokesman Wes Hickman said the laptop used to generate and grade tests in four physics courses disappeared from a locked room at the Jones Physical Sciences Building in late April,.

Hickman said the password-protected computer included names and Social Security numbers of students who took the classes, The university needed about two months to gather contact information for students who took the physics classes from 2010 through 2013. He said USC officials don’t know if information for students from that time period was on the laptop.

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Information from: The State, http://www.thestate.com