The hack took place on Jan. 13 and was discovered the same day by the university's information security staff, said Hilary Crnkovich, Notre Dame's vice president of public affairs. The school has no indication that any data that may have been exposed in the attack is being misused, she said.

"The computer security breach was on a remote server used to store donor information," Crnkovich said. "Donors who could have been affected [were] informed" last week both via e-mail and hard-copy letters, she said.

The affected server, which was not connected to any of the university's central databases, has since been taken off-line and is being scoured for evidence by two forensics experts, Crnkovich said.

The Notre Dame incident is the latest in a string of data compromises at major universities around the country in recent months.

Just last month, the University of Kansas in Lawrence shut down a student-housing Web site after detecting a security defect that allowed the public to view personal and financial information of people who applied for student housing using the university's online application process.