Massive School Data Breach: Hacker Claims 62M Student Records Stolen from PowerSchool

Massive School Data Breach: Hacker Claims 62M Student Records Stolen from PowerSchool

PowerSchool Data Breach Exposes Millions of Student and Teacher Records

A massive cybersecurity breach at PowerSchool, a leading K-12 education technology provider, has reportedly compromised the personal data of 62.4 million students and 9.5 million teachers across multiple countries.

The Breach
On January 7th, PowerSchool revealed that threat actors had gained unauthorized access to their PowerSource customer support portal using stolen credentials. The attackers exploited a maintenance tool to extract sensitive information from PowerSIS databases, including Social Security Numbers, medical information, and academic records for some affected individuals.

Impact Assessment
The breach affected 6,505 school districts across the United States, Canada, and other nations. Major impacts include:

Largest Affected Districts:
– Toronto District School Board: 1.4M students, 90K teachers
– Peel District School Board: 943K students, 39K teachers
– Dallas Independent School District: 787K students, 79K teachers
– Calgary Board of Education: 593K students, 133K teachers

Response and Mitigation
PowerSchool has confirmed:
– Approximately 25% of affected students had Social Security Numbers exposed
– A ransom payment was made to prevent data leakage
– Two years of free identity protection and credit monitoring services will be provided
– Data breach notifications will be sent to relevant authorities and stakeholders

The company is working with CrowdStrike on a detailed forensic investigation, with a comprehensive incident report pending completion. A dedicated website has been established to provide updates to affected individuals.

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