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Edtech colossus PowerSchool has warned customers that hackers access its customers ’ extremely raw selective information — including student Social Security number , grades , and aesculapian information — during a recent information breach , TechCrunch has learned .
In an FAQ obtain by TechCrunch that was beam to affected customers this week , PowerSchool says that “ tender personal entropy ” was access during its December rupture , which was confirmed by PowerSchool on Wednesday .
The hackers broke into PowerSchool ’s internal client support portal using a stolen certification , the company previously say . The breach affects users of PowerSchool ’s shoal information system , which schools use to manage student records , grades , attending , and enrollment .
PowerSchool say in its FAQ that while the steal data chiefly include physical contact details , such as individuals ’ name and addresses , the hackers were also able-bodied to get at Social Security turn , some medical and grade selective information , and other unspecified personally identifiable data belonging to students and teachers .
The California - base education tech business firm , the largest supplier of swarm - base education software for K-12 instruction in the United States , says the personal entropy of parents and guardian , include public figure , phone numbers , and e-mail addresses , was also potentially compromised in some schoolhouse dominion . The company said the type of stolen data will vary by customer .
PowerSchool spokesperson Beth Keebler affirm the legitimacy of the data in the FAQ on Thursday but declined to say how many individual are affect by the breach . PowerSchool says its software is used by over 18,000 customers to support more than 60 million scholarly person across North America .
In the FAQ , PowerSchool corroborate that the security incident was not ransomware in nature , but noted that it mold with CyberSteward , a Canadian organization that offers cyber - extortion incident response services , to negociate with the threat actor responsible for the breach .
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Thisconfirms previous reportingthat PowerSchool was the target of an extortion - only attack and that it paid a financial sum to keep the hackers from write the steal data point .
PowerSchool declined to say what evidence it had to suggest that the stolen datum had been deleted , when asked by TechCrunch on Thursday . CyberSteward did not respond to TechCrunch ’s interrogative .
“ PowerSchool has taken all appropriate steps to prevent the data point require from further unauthorised misuse and does not anticipate the data being shared or made public , ” Keebler said . “ PowerSchool believes the data has been edit without any further counter or diffusion . ”
PowerSchool was take on by Bain Capital in 2024 in a $ 5.6 billion deal . When reached by TechCrunch this week , Bain Capital representative Rachel Colson did not provide comment .
Do you have more info about the PowerSchool data breach ? We ’d enjoy to discover from you . From a non - work equipment , you’re able to meet Carly Page firmly on Signal at +44 1536 853968 or via electronic mail atcarly.page@techcrunch.com .
