Louisiana Special School District data breach possibly compromised workers’ personal information
Louisiana Special School District data breach possibly compromised workers’ personal information
by: Allison Bruhl
Posted: Jul 3, 2024 / 04:48 PM CDT
Updated: Jul 3, 2024 / 04:48 PM CDT
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BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Louisiana Special School District employees were notified of a cyber attack on Friday, June 28, a little more than a month after it was discovered.
According to the superintendent on July 3, the Louisiana State Police’s Cyber Crimes Division was contacted after an Akira ransomware breach was found on May 24.
“Our IT department immediately began to mitigate the threat once discovered,” SSD Superintendent David Martin said. “We coordinated with the state police and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to begin addressing the issue. We are extremely thankful for the assistance they have provided as we continue our recovery efforts.”
Workers were emailed a notice that said while there was no proof that files from the server were copied, the files were encrypted and officials said staff should assume that their information was accessed. According to SSD, files on the server included departments across the agency, including the human resources office, business office, the Louisiana School for the Deaf and the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired and the Special Schools Program.
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Information that included names, addresses, telephone numbers, social security numbers and limited staff and student medical information were stored on the secure server, according to SSD.
Officials said notices to students’ families, former employees, beneficiaries and others who may have been impacted will be sent the week of July 8.
“Ensuring we protect stakeholder data and privacy is a priority,” Martin said. “It is unfortunate that bad actors were able to infiltrate our systems through a ‘brute force’ attack, even though we contracted with third-party servicers to have the proper security measures in place. We have upgraded our network and security protocols to ensure that we mitigate the risk of a breach happening again.”
Those who think they could’ve been impacted can email [email protected]. Officials said information will be posted on the SSD website the week of July 8.
by: Allison Bruhl
Posted: Jul 3, 2024 / 04:48 PM CDT
Updated: Jul 3, 2024 / 04:48 PM CDT
SHARE
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — Louisiana Special School District employees were notified of a cyber attack on Friday, June 28, a little more than a month after it was discovered.
According to the superintendent on July 3, the Louisiana State Police’s Cyber Crimes Division was contacted after an Akira ransomware breach was found on May 24.
“Our IT department immediately began to mitigate the threat once discovered,” SSD Superintendent David Martin said. “We coordinated with the state police and the Governor’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness to begin addressing the issue. We are extremely thankful for the assistance they have provided as we continue our recovery efforts.”
Workers were emailed a notice that said while there was no proof that files from the server were copied, the files were encrypted and officials said staff should assume that their information was accessed. According to SSD, files on the server included departments across the agency, including the human resources office, business office, the Louisiana School for the Deaf and the Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired and the Special Schools Program.
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Information that included names, addresses, telephone numbers, social security numbers and limited staff and student medical information were stored on the secure server, according to SSD.
Officials said notices to students’ families, former employees, beneficiaries and others who may have been impacted will be sent the week of July 8.
“Ensuring we protect stakeholder data and privacy is a priority,” Martin said. “It is unfortunate that bad actors were able to infiltrate our systems through a ‘brute force’ attack, even though we contracted with third-party servicers to have the proper security measures in place. We have upgraded our network and security protocols to ensure that we mitigate the risk of a breach happening again.”
Those who think they could’ve been impacted can email [email protected]. Officials said information will be posted on the SSD website the week of July 8.
