How Safe is Data?
From epic.org
The above information makes you wonder how much of student data has been hacked. How easy is it to hack into student data? Is any personal data safe? How can your student’s information be used? From What we fear is here ~ As seen with my own eyes:
What we fear is here. It’s not an InBloom leak – probably a local hacker who seems quite ticked off at Sachem School District. According to the first page of the hacker’s site, he/she claims that the data was exposed 2 years ago by someone else and is doing this now because the district did nothing about it and would not admit it. He/she says the data will continue to be leaked (it still is now) until the district makes an admission to their errors.
I saw the data myself – how? Well, News12 Long Island stated the forum name where the data was posted. The hacker was posting frequently – quicker than the moderator or administrator of the forum could take it down.
I saw medical records (immunization, allergy, etc) and a letter from a doctor stating the child was prescribed Ritalin and his dosage. I saw a list of student ID’s with their names and whether they were receiving free lunch or not. I saw report cards. District registration documents (including name, address, date of birth, parent info.) I saw disciplinary records – a letter to a parent (name and address included) stating their child had been suspended for smoking marijuana on the bus. BOTH the parent’s and child’s name and address were on the letter.
The writer makes this important point:
A 17 year-old was subsequently charged with illegally accessing and downloading Sachem students’ records in 2012 and 2013. How much personal information on students was hacked? From Office of Inadequate Security:
The district contacted the police on November 8 after learning that some information had been uploaded to a web page, although as the district’s FAQ on the breach notes, they first became aware of the breach in July and again in August, when they also reportedly contacted the police.
The information leaked online reportedly included a list of 15,000 student names dating back to the early 2000s and school identification numbers and lunch designations. There was also How Safe is Data? | Missouri Education Watchdog: