Joelle Kovach reports: The agency that co-ordinates busing for schools in the Peterborough area has arranged for a security audit after it accidentally allowed public access to a database of student contact and busing information through social media. Joel Sloggett, CAO of Student Transportation Services of Central Ontario (STSCO), said Wednesday that the personal information…
Category: Education Sector
UGA student accused of hacking account to change grades
Joe Johnson reports: A University of Georgia student is facing 80 felony counts for allegedly hacking into a professor’s computer to change his grades. Michael Lamon Williams, 21, was booked into the Clarke County Jail Wednesday on nine counts of computer trespass and 71 counts of computer forgery. Williams, a student of UGA’s Terry College…
This time, students’ records left behind
Barb Ickes writes: The 6-year-old’s psychological assessment is marked “confidential,” yet, there it is in my inbox. I didn’t read it. Finding it in my email felt wrong enough. But I understand what Jim Ziebell was doing. He was offering an example of the records that were left behind at a former school in Lost…
Education Department Toughens Tone on Cyber and Threatens to Pull Funding for Non-Compliance
Sara A. Arrow and Craig A. Newman Recently-issued guidance from the U.S. Department of Education (ED) threatens to “yank” Title IV funding for post-secondary institutions lacking appropriate data security safeguards. The guidance comes as the risk of educational data breaches has intensified, as we have previously reported. The stakes are even higher now that ED…
KY: Livingston County Schools teachers, staff fear identity theft
Blake Stevens and Randall Barnes report: Many teachers, bus drivers, custodians, and other school staff in Livingston County fear their identities may have been stolen. Superintendent Victor Zimmerman apologized Monday night for unknowingly posting payroll information with social security numbers on the Livingston County school district’s website. The breach was part of an attachment for…
Ex-student suspect in Mississippi State University records tampering case
Therese Apel reports: According to Mississippi State University officials, one former student is the target of a search warrant in an investigation into university record tampering. MSU Chief Communications Officer Sid Salter told Logan Kirkland of the Starkville Daily News that the student graduated in December. The identity of the suspect and the nature of…