Federal authorities say a breach that forced Springfield Public Schools to close for a week did include student and staff data.
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SPS officials said Tuesday evening, per notice from the FBI, last week's cyberattack encompassed personnel info, with staff social security numbers potentially affected.
An SPS spokesperson noted, while it was not yet confirmed whether or not social security numbers were compromised, the district has been "working proactively since last week to expedite free credit monitoring services for all district personnel."
Throughout last week, SPS officials did not rule out whether or not staff and student data were affected by the breach, but emphasized that regaining access to the district’s own core systems after being locked out was their top priority.
Classes resumed on Monday, Sept. 14, after various backup systems were put in place and SPS phone lines were restored.
Where and how much data may have been leaked remains under investigation.
Tuesday's announcement noted that it was "not common practice" for SPS to include social security info in "student data files."
Details on the group responsible have been sparce. Speaking with WAMC last week, TJ Sayers, Senior Director of Threat Intelligence at the Albany-area-based Center for Internet Security, said breaches like Springfield's are only becoming more commonplace.
“It could just be a cybercriminal group that gets in there - they gather a whole bunch of information and then they're trying to extort money out of parents, the school district staff, maybe even third-party vendors,” Sayers posited on Wednesday, Sept. 9, before authorities released more details on the nature of the breach. “K -12 [school districts], by far, are one of the #1 targets for cyber criminals right now, just because of the success that they have seen over the years, because of the wide-scale publicity that comes along with these types of attacks and because of the sensitive nature of the data.”
Sayers recommended SPS parents consider freezing their children's credit in the meantime.
