School districts in Illinois, Louisiana, and Texas have all recently reported data security incidents. One involved insider wrongdoing, while the other two appear to be external incidents.
In Illinois, Sydney Sinks reports:
A recent data breach in Bethalto Community Unit School District #8 targeted Superintendent Dr. Jill Griffin, according to the school district.
On Oct. 4, 2024, former district employee Barrett Deist was charged with computer tampering, a Class B misdemeanor, by the Bethalto Police Department. Deist previously worked as the chief school business official for the district. He currently serves as the business director at Roxana Community Unit School District #1.
Deist accessed executive session and internet board documents from the Board of Education, as well as 23 personal employee files. In a press release, Bethalto Community School District #8 said that “various types of personal information” was viewed and printed.
Read more at RiverBender.com.
Meanwhile, in Louisiana, Scott Yonish reports:
Students and staff of Vermilion Parish Schools will be slightly less connected for the foreseeable future after a possible cyberattack of the schools’ computer system, authorities said.
In a message posted on the Abbeville High School Facebook page, VPSS announced that all system networks and internet have been placed offline to “investigate a potential compromise of our systems.”
Read more at KLFY.
And as DataBreaches recently noted on Infosec.exchange:
Del Valle Independent School District notified the Texas AG of a breach affecting 5,214 Texans. The public breach tool indicates that they informed the state of the following data types: Name of individual; Social Security Number Information; Driver’s License number; Government-issued ID number (e.g. passport, state ID card); and Financial Information (e.g. account number, credit or debit card number). Those data types suggest employee data was involved.
Confusingly, there is nothing on the district’s website or Facebook page that indicates any breach, nor when it occurred.