Hannah Administration Building on Aug. 29, 2015. Courtney Kendler/The State News
—MSU will spend an estimated $2.9 million on identity theft protection in the wake of the data breach that exposed university records of about 400,000 people.
According to a statement from MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon, MSU will provide credit monitoring and identity theft protection free of charge to everyone affected.
"We have a reserve fund that we have set aside that is used to pay deductibles for insurance claims and general liability claims and the money will come from that reserve fund,” university spokesperson Jason Cody said.
The $2.9 million will be used to pay AllClear ID and for any costs from the investigation, Cody said.
The fund will have $6.5 million left in it after the costs from the breach are paid.
“It’s a flat rate fee," Cody said. "It doesn’t matter if 20,000 people or 200,000 people sign up for the credit monitoring because you’re paying a flat rate.”
A letter explaining the data breach and the identity protection program has been sent to all 400,000 people, Cody said.
"As an added precaution, we have arranged to have AllClear ID protect your identity for 24 months at no cost to you," the letter said.
MSU is offering two services through AllClear ID: identity repair and credit monitoring.
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