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PowerSchool Hacker Extorts School Districts Using Stolen Data

The hacker behind the 2024 PowerSchool breach is now targeting individual districts, demanding ransoms despite prior assurances of data deletion.

A man uses a computer keyboard in Toronto in this Sunday, Oct. 9 photo illustration. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy
A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. Capitalizing on spying tools believed to have been developed by the U.S. National Security Agency, hackers staged a cyber assault with a self-spreading malware that has infected tens of thousands of computers in nearly 100 countries. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration
The PowerSchool breach stole data from school boards across North America last December. Now, some boards are being targeted with ransom demands linked to that stolen information.
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Overview

  • PowerSchool confirmed that the hacker responsible for its December 2024 data breach is now extorting individual school districts with stolen student and teacher data.
  • The Toronto District School Board, Canada's largest school board, has received a ransom demand, highlighting the ongoing misuse of the compromised information.
  • PowerSchool previously paid a ransom to prevent public release of the stolen data but has acknowledged the hacker did not delete the data as promised.
  • The stolen data includes sensitive information such as addresses, Social Security numbers, medical records, and grades, exposing millions to potential identity theft risks.
  • Law enforcement agencies in the United States and Canada are investigating the extortion attempts, while PowerSchool continues to offer two years of free credit monitoring and identity protection to affected individuals.