The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell) has suffered a cybersecurity breach that has caused school closures for the past two days. The incident was first announced on June 15 as an “IT outage:” 6/15/2021 8:25 AM EDT UMass Lowell, including the Haverhill campus, is closed on Tuesday, June 15, 2021 due to an IT…
Category: Education Sector
NYS Comptroller DiNapoli Releases School District Audit of East Syracuse-Minoa Central School District – Information Technology (Onondaga County and Madison County)
Summary: Audit Objective Determine whether East Syracuse Minoa Central School District (District) officials established adequate information technology (IT) controls to ensure employees’ personal, private and sensitive information (PPSI) on the financial server was adequately protected from unauthorized access, use and loss. Key Findings District officials did not adequately apply established IT controls to ensure PPSI…
Update on Union Community School District ransomware incident
On June 1, DataBreaches.net reported that DoppelPaymer threat actors had apparently attacked Union Community School District in Iowa and exfiltrated data about employees and students. Neither the district’s superintendent nor any board of education members had responded to this site’s inquiries about whether there had been any public disclosure of the breach that occurred in…
Cost of ransomware attack on Baltimore County public schools climbs to $7.7M
Lillian Reed reports: Baltimore County school officials estimate the ransomware attack in November will cost the system at least $7.7 million, nearing what Baltimore City spent following a similar attack in 2019. The estimated costs cover a wide range of programs, services, trainings and licenses that helped Maryland’s third-largest school system respond to and recover…
AZ: MCCCD release findings from cyber security breach investigation
ABC reports: The Maricopa County Community College District is releasing the findings from an investigation into a cyber security breach that happened earlier this year. In March, the college district announced that suspicious activity was found on their network which resulted in a system shutdown. […] A forensic investigation determined MCCCD likely identified and prevented…
N.J. school worker accidentally leaked Social Security numbers of staff to public
Anthony G. Attrino reports: Hundreds of employees in the Leonia School District in Bergen County were exposed to a data breach last month when an office worker inadvertently linked their personal information to an online meeting agenda. The Social Security numbers of about 300 teachers, custodians and administrators were exposed to the public for four…