A hacker accessed the personal information of roughly 7 million California public school students through a breach of state testing contractor Educational Testing Service (ETS).
Key Details of the Incident
Scope of Exposure: The breach affected all students enrolled in California public schools over the past three school years. Exposed information included student names, birth dates, home addresses, demographic data, and disability status. Method of Access: An unauthorized actor used a compromised login credential to access a secure File Transfer Protocol (FTP) site managed by ETS, copying files periodically between May 22 and September 18. Protected Information: The California Department of Education (CDE) confirmed that Social Security numbers and sensitive financial information were not exposed or accessed. Current Status: ETS identified the breach in late September, halted normal enrollment data processing, and notified district officials while deploying enhanced access controls, monitoring, and security safeguards.
