PowerSchool hit by cyberattack which saw student and teacher data stolen

A digital representation of a lock
(Image credit: Altalex)

  • PowerSchool said that in late December, threat actors accessed its student information system and stole data on students and teachers
  • We don't know exactly how many people were affected by the breach
  • The data was allegedly deleted

PowerSchool, a major education technology software platform for K-12 schools, has confirmed suffering a cyberattack resulting in the theft of sensitive student and teacher information. Furthermore, the company decided to pay a ransom demand to have the data deleted.

In late December 2024, an unidentified threat actor used stolen credentials to access its PowerSchool Student Information System (SIS) platform. From there, they were able to use the “export data manager" customer support tool to exfiltrate “Students” and “Teachers” database tables to a CSV file, which was then stolen.

The information grabbed in this attack includes names, and postal addresses, and in some districts, the threat actors also obtained Social Security numbers (SSN), personally identifiable information (PII), medical information, and grades.

A ransomware attack

PowerSchool notified the affected individuals via a breach notification letter, and stressed that not all PowerSchool SIS customers were impacted.

Only a subset of customers received the update, with a PowerSchool spokesperson adding items such as customer tickets, customer credentials, or forum data were not exposed or exfiltrated.

We don’t know exactly how many people were exposed in the incident, but apparently, the data was deleted.

PowerSchool said hile this wasn’t a ransomware attack, it still paid the attackers to have the data wiped.

"With their guidance, PowerSchool has received reasonable assurances from the threat actor that the data has been deleted and that no additional copies exist." The publication asked the company how much money it paid for this, but did not get a straight answer: "Given the sensitive nature of our investigation, we are unable to provide information on certain specifics."

In recent times, some ransomware operators stopped deploying the encryptor and started focusing solely on data exfiltration, since it’s cheaper, easier, and more convenient, with the same end result.

Via BleepingComputer

You might also like

Sead is a seasoned freelance journalist based in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He writes about IT (cloud, IoT, 5G, VPN) and cybersecurity (ransomware, data breaches, laws and regulations). In his career, spanning more than a decade, he’s written for numerous media outlets, including Al Jazeera Balkans. He’s also held several modules on content writing for Represent Communications.

Read more
How to prevent cyberattacks
PowerSchool breach worse than thought, company says "all" student and teacher data accessed
security
PowerSchool hack keeps getting worse - 62 million students now thought to be affected
Red padlock open on electric circuits network dark red background
Publishing giant Scholastic hit by hackers, data on 8 million people stolen
Data leak
Popular online bill paying site leaks data of thousands of users
Doctor working on laptop
Another major US hospital hacked, data on 1.4 million patients leaked
Classroom
Many schools still don’t have basic cybersecurity measures, research reveals
Latest in Security
Data Breach
Thousands of healthcare records exposed online, including private patient information
China
Juniper patches security flaws which could have let hackers take over your router
Representational image depecting cybersecurity protection
GitLab has patched a host of worrying security issues
Ai tech, businessman show virtual graphic Global Internet connect Chatgpt Chat with AI, Artificial Intelligence.
AI agents can be hijacked to write and send phishing attacks
China
Volt Typhoon threat group had access to American utility networks for the best part of a year
Abstract image of cyber security in action.
MassJacker malware targets those looking for pirated software
Latest in News
Google Pixel 8a in aloe green showing
Google Pixel 9a benchmark link teases the performance of the upcoming mid-ranger
Quordle on a smartphone held in a hand
Quordle hints and answers for Monday, March 17 (game #1148)
NYT Strands homescreen on a mobile phone screen, on a light blue background
NYT Strands hints and answers for Monday, March 17 (game #379)
NYT Connections homescreen on a phone, on a purple background
NYT Connections hints and answers for Monday, March 17 (game #645)
Apple iPhone 16 Pro HANDS ON
Leaked iPhone 17 dummy units may have given us our best look yet at all four models
A super close up image of the Google Gemini app in the Play Store
It's official: Google Assistant will be retired for phones this year, with Gemini taking over