It sometimes seems as though anything can be found on the Internet. For one Syracuse University student, it was her identity.

An unidentified person hacked into an SU student’s computer from Feb. 1 until March 29 in Dellplain Residence Hall, according to a police report. The person hacked the student’s IP address and stole the student’s identity. Through that process, the person could get much of the student’s personal information, including her date of birth, Social Security number and credit card numbers, the report stated.

An IP address is the identifier used to distinguish computers on a network. Once the person stole the student’s address, he figured out the passwords for two of the student’s e-mail accounts, possibly using an encryption device, the report stated. The student could not be reached for comment.

This incident is the first time someone has used a student’s Resnet IP address to steal his or her identity, said Deborah Nosky, manager of IT communications and professional development for Computing and Media Services. She refused to comment on the specifics of the case because it is an ongoing investigation, but said steps may be taken to avoid IP theft.

‘We have ways to secure or change an IP address that has been used to hack into someone’s computer,’ Nosky said.

But Shervin Saedinia, a senior exercise science major, hasn’t considered any of that security. She never thought about someone hacking into her computer to get her personal information.

‘I guess now I have to give it a second thought,’ she said.

In the reported case, the person used the student’s account to send e-mails to about 400 people in the student’s ethics class, saying she had two abortions and it was OK because there is nothing wrong with killing something you have never met, the report stated. The e-mail also called the student’s professor an asshole, the report stated. The professor was going to report the student to the Office of Judicial Affairs until the student explained the circumstances, the report added.

The person sent about six e-mails to people claiming to be the student, the report stated. The person also deletes the student’s incoming messages so the student can no longer receive e-mails critical to her study at SU, the report added.

Rebecca Goucher, a senior chemical engineering major, is not concerned about her computer being hacked.

‘I’m not really worried,’ she said, ‘because there isn’t much that I can do.’

Published on April 2, 2003 at 12:00 pm