Though initial reports confirmed that the victimized population of February’s security breach did not include those enrolled at this university before 1998, officials announced Wednesday that thousands of students who attended as far back as 1992 were also among those affected.

Division of Information Technology faculty members found during file purging that records of 56,048 students who attended the university between 1992 and 1998 were included in the compromised database. These students have been contacted by phone or email, or they will receive the official letter within the next several days, according to a post addressed to the university community on Wednesday by former provost Ann Wylie, chairwoman of the President’s Task Force on Cybersecurity and the DIT chief information officer and interim vice president.

Officials also lowered the official number of affected records to 287,580 — down from the 309,079 first reported to The Diamondback on Feb. 19. The more in-depth look at the accessed database revealed that more than 21,000 of the copied records were fragmented or contained false data, Wylie wrote in the post.

“The complexities and issues underlying the structure of our campus-wide information systems are significant,” she wrote. “The scope and importance of work is paramount. Since the attack on UMD, several other universities have reported breaches of their own, affirming the case that there is perhaps no more compelling issue today than the sanctity of our financial, academic, personal, and research data.”

The university has purged 225,023 records since beginning the process last week. About 30,000 affected people had signed up for Experian’s credit monitoring service as of Wednesday, a number that Wylie considered “well ahead of projections.”

The 18 members of the president’s cybersecurity task force were also announced in the post, with Christian Johnson, the student board president for the Advanced Cybersecurity Experience for Students honors program, listed as the sole undergraduate member. The task force had its first official meeting Wednesday night, kicking off what Wylie referred to as “the hard work ahead.”

“To the Maryland community, I thank you again for your patience as we work together on this important issue,” she wrote.