DataBreaches.Net

Menu
  • About
  • Breach Notification Laws
  • Privacy Policy
  • Transparency Report
Menu

School Lunch Risk: Audit of Metro Schools in Nashville Reveals Students’ SSN Not Adequately Protected

Posted on October 9, 2010 by Dissent

Deanna Lambert reports:

Channel 4 News has learned Social Security numbers of Metro Nashville Public Schools students were not adequately protected, and the slip-up was traced back to the lunch line.

In some Metro Schools, students can’t get lunch without going through a computer. An audit suggests that Metro Schools needs more protection and better controls for students’ sensitive information.

It particularly references student’s Social Security numbers, which are needed to verify which students receive free or reduced lunch. The audit says one employee saved a file with the numbers on a computer desktop without encrypting or protecting the file with a password.

In another case, an employee improperly granted someone else access to an unprotected folder, and databases containing the sensitive numbers were not encrypted at any level.

Now if that sounds pretty scary, the district will reassure you:

“The files that were unencrypted and that were mentioned in the audit were not at the schools; there were here at the central office,” said Fred Carr, chief operating officer of Metro Schools.

The central office, behind lock and key, is where most of student’s personal information is kept, such as sensitive student information, food service information and textbook inventories, to name a few. It can’t be reached without special access and passwords.

I’m so glad to hear that Metro Schools has an invisible shield that protects it from brute force burglaries.

Read more on WSMV.

It’s good to see more attention paid to public schools as they contain a wealth of personal and sensitive information on both students and their families. I am still waiting for an anticipated flood of breach reports from the public k-12 education subsector, but those will probably not even start trickling in until the day when the schools really start getting audited and checked to see if they’ve already been breached and just haven’t detected it.

Category: Commentaries and AnalysesEducation Sector

Post navigation

← ATM fraud spree across Western Canada linked to one man
Ca: Veteran says privacy breaches left him suicidal →

Now more than ever

"Stand with Ukraine:" above raised hands. The illustration is in blue and yellow, the colors of Ukraine's flag.

Search

Browse by Categories

Recent Posts

  • Industry Letter – June 23, 2025: Impact to Financial Sector of Ongoing Global Conflicts
  • MNGI Digestive Health settles class action lawsuit stemming from BlackCat attack
  • Four REvil ransomware members released after time served on carding charges
  • Why Dumping Sensitive Data on Network Shares is a Liability
  • A militarily degraded Iran may turn to asymmetrical warfare – raising risk of proxy and cyber attacks
  • Pro-Russian hackers disrupt Dutch government websites ahead of NATO summit
  • Iran-Linked Threat Actors Leak Visitors and Athletes’ Data from Saudi Games
  • UK: Oxford City Council still investigating cyberattack from earlier this month
  • Steelmaker Nucor Says Hackers Stole Data in Recent Attack
  • People’s Republic of China cyber threat activity: Cyber Threat Bulletin

No, You Can’t Buy a Post or an Interview

This site does not accept sponsored posts or link-back arrangements. Inquiries about either are ignored.

And despite what some trolls may try to claim: DataBreaches has never accepted even one dime to interview or report on anyone. Nor will DataBreaches ever pay anyone for data or to interview them.

Want to Get Our RSS Feed?

Grab it here:

https://databreaches.net/feed/

RSS Recent Posts on PogoWasRight.org

  • Sky Views Personal Data as a Potential Weapon in IPTV Piracy War
  • Florida Used a Nationwide Surveillance Camera Network 250 Times To Aid in Immigration Arrests
  • Federal Court Strikes Down HIPAA Reproductive Health Care Privacy Rule
  • The Markup caught 4 more states sharing personal health data with Big Tech
  • Privacy in the Big Sky State: Montana’s Consumer Privacy Law Gets Amended
  • UK Passes Data Use and Access Regulation Bill
  • Officials defend Liberal bill that would force hospitals, banks, hotels to hand over data

Have a News Tip?

Email: Tips[at]DataBreaches.net

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Contact Me

Email: info[at]databreaches.net

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

DMCA Concern: dmca[at]databreaches.net
© 2009 – 2025 DataBreaches.net and DataBreaches LLC. All rights reserved.