Aly Torline, a former collegiate volleyball player at California State University, San Bernardino, expressed her joy in athletics and the impact of her experiences on her life. However, nearly ten years after her graduation, she received alarming news from the Justice Department regarding a data breach. This breach involved Matt Weiss, a former NFL and University of Michigan assistant football coach, who allegedly accessed private data from over 3,300 student-athletes, primarily targeting females. Weiss is accused of downloading intimate photos and videos, leading to a federal indictment with multiple charges against him.
Torline and other former student-athletes, who received notification of potential hacking, described feelings of vulnerability and betrayal, emphasizing that they were kept in the dark about what may have been accessed. Many potential victims are pursuing a civil class action lawsuit, asserting that the breach represents one of the largest cyber sexual assault cases against student-athletes in U.S. history.
The attorneys representing the victims highlight significant emotional impacts, asserting that unauthorized access to intimate content equates to a form of sexual assault. Victims like Torline and fellow athletes have called for accountability from their universities and the third-party vendors involved, emphasizing the need for better data security measures like multi-factor authentication.
Despite the seriousness of the breach, many universities, including Radford and the University of Kentucky, reported no communication from federal authorities about potential impacts on their students or alumni. Victims stress the necessity of safeguarding personal information and demand transparency and assurance of improved protective measures in the future.
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