Minnesota Dept. of Education hit with data breach affecting 95,000 students

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Minnesota education data breach overview: 

• Who: The Minnesota Dept. of Education (MDE) has disclosed that it suffered a data breach as a result of the recent cyber attack on the MOVEit file transfer system. 
• Why: The MDE said the data breach impacted 95,000 students, exposing their names, birthdates, and some of their home addresses. 
• Where: Minnesota. 
• What are my options: Norton LifeLock carries many options when it comes to data security.

The Minnesota Dept. of Education (MDE) has suffered a data breach that compromised the private data of 95,000 students who have been placed in foster care in the state. 

The state agency said the data breach was part of a global cybersecurity attack on a file transfer system called MOVEit that is widely used by the MDE and other organizations to securely share files, reports the Star Tribune. 

The MDE files exposed in the MOVEit data breach — which has been attributed to a Russian hacking group called CL0P — reportedly include student names, birthdates, and some home addresses. 

The data breach also exposed the names of five students on a Minneapolis Public Schools bus route, the information of 124 students who qualified for Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer, and 29 students who took postsecondary enrollment classes at a local technical college, reports the Star Tribune. 

The MDE reportedly said a total of 24 of its files were compromised in the data breach and that it is currently working to notify people who had their private data exposed. 

Minnesota Dept. of Education says it took immediate steps to limit harm from data breach

Progress Software, the parent company of MOVEit, disclosed the data breach to its customers on May 31, however, cybersecurity experts speculate that hundreds of companies could have had their files accessed prior to a patch being issued, reports the Star Tribune. 

The MDE reportedly said that, upon learning of the data breach, it immediately took steps to prevent any additional unauthorized access to its files, and has made clear that no financial information was compromised. 

In spite of this, the MDE has recommended that students who had their information exposed in the data breach take precautions going forward to spot any potential credit fraud, reports the Star Tribune. 

In addition to the MDE, initial confirmed victims of the data breach include the government of Nova Scotia, the BBC, and British Airways. 

In other data breach news, a class action lawsuit was filed against Oklahoma City University in April by a School of Law graduate arguing the university was negligent with the way it handled student data, leading to a data breach. 

Were you impacted by the Minnesota Dept. of Education data breach? Let us know in the comments! 

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