Hacker stole NC student and teacher data from system used to record grades, attendance
A global data breach of the PowerSchool information system means that a hacker obtained personal data from North Carolina teachers and students.
PowerSchool notified its customers, including the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, about the cyber incident at 2 p.m. on Tuesday. But PowerSchool, which is used to record information such as students’ attendance, grades, report cards and courses, says the incident has been contained and the data was destroyed, according to Vanessa Wrenn, DPI’s chief information officer.
“PowerSchool began engagements with that threat actor to ensure the destruction of that data,” Wrenn told the State Board of Education on Wednesday. “PowerSchool has stated that they are confident that all data is contained and the system is secure for use.”
Wrenn said that if a school district was contacted by PowerSchool then it means they were probably impacted by the data breach. But Wrenn said they’re still analyzing the state impact of the data breach.
“At this time, we do not have confirmation that our district was among the systems impacted,” the Wake County school system said in a statement Wednesday. “Once we receive more information, we will determine next steps.”
The state board was briefed about the data breach in a closed session on Wednesday.
North Carolina uses PowerSchool as its student information system. The state is switching over to the Infinite Campus system and will phase out PowerSchool at the end of the school year.
‘The incident is contained,’ PowerSchool claims
Wrenn said the credentials for a PowerSchool employee were compromised by malware. The threat actor used the malware to access confidential student and teacher data.
“No actions by our schools or no actions by DPI could have prevented this incident from happening,” Wrenn said. “As a matter of fact, this is a global incident. It has impacted PowerSchool customers all over the United States and around the world.”
Wrenn said the threat actor contacted PowerSchool on Dec. 28 about the data breach.
“We have taken all appropriate steps to prevent the data involved from further unauthorized access or misuse,” PowerSchool said in a statement Wednesday. “The incident is contained and we do not anticipate the data being shared or made public.
“PowerSchool is not experiencing, nor expects to experience, any operational disruption and continues to provide services as normal to our customers.”
Monitoring the dark web
Wrenn said that DPI is working off the assurances of PowerSchool that the compromised data has been destroyed. In the meantime, she said PowerSchool is working with law enforcement to monitor the Internet and the dark web to see if the stolen data surfaces there.
Schools don’t need to take additional action, Wrenn said. DPI working with PowerSchool to provide parents and the community with any information they will need, Wrenn said.
In its statement, PowerSchool said its priority is to support its customers through this incident and “to continue our unrelenting focus on data security.”
“PowerSchool is committed to providing affected customers, families, and educators with the resources and support they may need as we work through this together,” PowerSchool said.
This story was originally published January 8, 2025 at 12:44 PM with the headline "Hacker stole NC student and teacher data from system used to record grades, attendance."
