May 10, 2012
Dear Users of the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse —

We want to notify you about a recent breach of computer security at the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, http://www.clearinghouse.net. On April 27, the site was attacked by a hacker who attempted to gain access to user information, including usernames, passwords, and email addresses. We have not been able to confirm that any information was in fact obtained, but we want to notify you as a precaution. There is no sensitive financial-type information stored on the Clearinghouse—no addresses, credit cards, or social security numbers. Nonetheless, we deeply regret that this situation occurred and are aware of how important your personal information is to you. In response, we have upgraded site security to safeguard against similar future attacks.

We have also taken the precaution of resetting all the passwords on Clearinghouse.net. To access your account, go to the site, http://www.clearinghouse.net, click the "Account Logon" link located on the right side of the yellow navigation bar, and follow the instructions provided for recovering a lost password. Enter your username or your email address, and you will receive an automated email with a temporary password; you will then be able to use that password to log in to your account.

As a further precaution, we strongly recommend that you change your password at any other websites where you use your Clearinghouse password, particularly where your account is linked to the same email address, because your email address may also have been exposed in the attack.

The University of Michigan and the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse are committed to maintaining a secure computing environment. We will continue to review our security procedures to ensure that personal information is protected. Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience this incident may cause you.

Please contact clearinghouse@umich.edu with any questions or concerns. If you believe your password has been used fraudulently, please contact the University of Michigan Department of Public Safety at 734-763-1131 and reference DPS case number 12-1544.

Margo Schlanger
Director, Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse