Minneapolis Public Schools says they will provide ID theft protection after breach
Private documents from Minneapolis Public Schools leaked by hackers
Cybercriminals have leaked private data from Minneapolis Public Schools including sensitive information like student names and victim statements from an alleged sexual assault. Now, cybersecurity experts worry the hack could be worse than the district has let on.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - In the district's latest update on an ongoing cybersecurity breach, Minneapolis Public Schools officials say they will provide credit monitoring protection for people who had personal information accessed.
In the update, the district says they will provide credit monitoring and identity protection services for people who had their "legally protected personal information" accessed. It's unclear for how long the district will provide those services.
The district also now says they are working to determine who was impacted and will begin contacting people who are impacted by the breach, warning this process will take some time. Wednesday night, parents whose students' private information had been exposed in the leak said they hadn't been informed by the district.
Cybersecurity experts also worried the breach may have been worse than Minneapolis school officials had initially realized. Last month, the district initially warned parents that an "encryption event" had impacted its systems. Ultimately, the district was able to get some systems back online but then, as documents began to appear online, the district warned that some private information may have been accessed – giving the indication that the situation may be worse than a typical ransomware attack.
As of Thursday, the district says it has brought in third-party IT specialists to determine the scope of the hack and monitor its systems.