Seen on WebsitePlanet: Cybersecurity Researcher, Jeremiah Fowler, discovered and reported to WebsitePlanet a non-password protected database that contained 680k records. Upon further investigation, it was identified that these records were related to educational institutions. Documents inside the database suggested that it belonged to the Southern Association of Independent Schools, Inc (SAIS). In my many years as…
Category: Education Sector
Arizona man who extorted Georgia Tech sentenced to prison
ATLANTA, July 27 – Ronald Bell has been sentenced to two years and nine months in prison for extorting Georgia Tech. Bell recruited a security guard to falsely claim that the guard witnessed an assault by its basketball coach in exchange for part of the extortion payout he expected to receive from the university. “Ronald…
Hobbs has questions about data breach that exposed ESA student info
Gloria Rebecca Gomez reports: A data breach exposed the personal information of thousands of Arizona students enrolled in the state’s school voucher program, according to Gov. Katie Hobbs, but the state’s top education official says it’s not a problem. Earlier this month, ClassWallet, the online financial administration platform that handles payments for Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship…
Hawaiʻi Community College pays ransom to attackers
Law enforcement and experienced ransomware professionals generally advise victims not to pay any ransom demands. Yet the University of Hawaiʻi Community College decided that they would pay following an attack that they first disclosed on June 13. So why did they make that decision? In a statement on their website this week, they explain: After…
NH: Lebanon students to finally receive grades from June after cyberattack delay
Nora Doyle-Burr reports: Middle and high school students in the Lebanon School District are expected to receive their grades for the academic year that ended in June next week. The delayed release comes after some of the district’s key systems were taken offline as a precaution following a June cyberattack. PowerSchool, a student information database where…
Recent NYS audits of K-12 school districts’ infosecurity
A toot by Doug Levin yesterday reminded me that I haven’t posted NYS Comptroller audits of school districts in a while. So here are three to get caught up: Jericho Union Free School District – Acceptable Use Policy (2022M-194) Issued Date: July 21, 2023 Audit Objective Determine whether Jericho Union Free School District (District) officials…