PowerSchool, a leading education technology firm, said the company was the target of a data security breach in late December, in which hackers stole sensitive data including Social Security numbers, grades, and medical information affecting both students and teachers, according to TechCrunch.
PowerSchool is the largest provider of cloud-based education software for K-12 education in the country, used by more than 16,000 customers to support more than 50 million students in the U.S.
The California-based edtech giant also said the personal information of parents and guardians, including names, phone numbers, and email addresses, was potentially compromised in some school districts.
Fast Company reached out to PowerSchool and will include its statement when we get a response.
PowerSchool, which has not yet confirmed the number of customers impacted by the breach, told Newsweek that it is “still working through our detailed data review,” but confirmed “not all PowerSchool student-information-system customers were impacted.”
The hackers reportedly broke in through the internal customer support portal using stolen credentials, giving them access to the system used to manage student records, grades, attendance, and enrollment.
In addition, despite initial claims to the contrary, PowerSchool admitted it had paid a ransom to prevent attackers from releasing students and teachers’ stolen data. A PowerSchool spokesperson told Infosecurity, it “believes the data has been deleted without any further replication or dissemination.”
Founded in 1997, PowerSchool was acquired by Apple in 2001, and then by Bain Capital for $5.6 billion last year.
