PowerSchool, a widely used education software company, is offering identity protection and credit monitoring services to those affected by a recent data breach.
In January, PowerSchool announced that a cybersecurity breach had compromised the personal data of students and staff. In response, the company is collaborating with Experian, a credit-monitoring agency, to provide two years of identity protection services for those affected by the breach.
The breach impacted several school districts in the Magic Valley region. The Twin Falls, Jerome, Wendell, Filer, and Kimberly school districts all issued statements regarding the incident. PowerSchool serves over 60 million students.
The Jerome School District informed parents that the compromised data included names, dates of birth, email addresses, and phone numbers of current and former students and staff. Eva Craner, Public Relations Director for the Twin Falls School District, shared information about the identity protection services in an email to parents on January 21.
Kimberly School District Superintendent Luke Schroeder confirmed that student phone numbers and email addresses were exposed. He noted that PowerSchool will provide two years of free credit checks to those whose data was compromised.
“Pretty much anybody that ever had data in PowerSchool more than likely was impacted,” Schroeder told the Times-News.
Schroeder emphasized that the district is actively implementing security measures, such as multi-factor authorization. He added that the breach originated on PowerSchool’s end, highlighting the need for robust security protocols.
Schools use PowerSchool for various functions, including attendance tracking, grading, scheduling, and progress monitoring.
