If the field of journalism weren't under assault enough as it is, now comes news that the private information—including social security numbers—of almost 500 UC Berkeley j-school applicants may have been compromised in a security breach.

The Daily Californian is reporting that a hacker broke into the private segment of the j-school's primary public server, in which information about 493 people who applied to the school between September 2007 and May 2009 was stored.

The breach took place in July, but campus technology officials told the Californian that there was no indication "the information had been stolen or misused."

Still, the school sent out notices to the affected individuals on Tuesday, the Californian said.