FREDERICKSBURG, Va. – The Spotsylvania County school system’s computer security is being audited after officials discovered that employees’ personal information was accessible online for nearly two years.

The Free Lance-Star (http://bit.ly/zoG1Xl ) reports that the security issue affected up to 4,289 current and former employees.

A teacher discovered in late December that she could access her old W-2 information online through a Google search. Employees have been able to access their W-2 forms on the school system’s website since January 2010.

School officials attributed the security hole to a default computer program coding setting that allowed Google’s search engine to access the information. The setting was changed after the teacher reported her discovery.

An audit of the school system’s computer security began this week.

— Information from: The Free Lance-Star, http://www.fredericksburg.com/

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)