LAUSD ransomware attack exposes nearly 2K student records

Reuters reports that nearly 2,000 current and former students at the Los Angeles Unified School District, which is the second-largest school district in the U.S., had their assessment records leaked on the dark web after being impacted by a Vice Society ransomware attack last September. Exposed records may have included students' attendance, academic, disciplinary, and mental health results, as well as Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, and positive COVID-19 results, according to LAUSD Senior IT Administrator Jack Kelanic. Such a confirmation comes after education news website The 74 reported the online leaks of LAUSD students' psychological evaluations, including personally identifiable information and medical histories. Some students and vendors impacted by the incident have already been informed about the data exposure, noted Kelanic, who said that the investigation into the ransomware attack's impact is still underway. "Los Angeles Unified takes student, family, and employee privacy very seriously and has been implementing enhanced protections and procedures to ensure our data security," he added.