Hackers steal personal data of millions of California students in massive breach

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Set us as preferred Hackers have stolen the data — including names, addresses and disability records — of millions of current and former California public school students who took the state’s mandated standardized tests that annually assess their academic proficiency, education officials announced Friday.The compromised information affects many more than the state’s current 5.7 million public-school students as the breach dates back to 2023 enrollments.

Students who left California but did not confirm their transfer to another school also were affected, dating back to 2006.The data breach involved Educational Testing Service or ETS, which provides extensive services to California.While the first public notice was Friday, school district leaders received word on Oct.

2.State education officials “are urgently working with a team of state agencies to investigate and determine scope and impact of the incident, including what information may have been affected,” according to a letter from state Deputy Supt.Mary Nicely.ETS, a nonprofit assessment organization, helps manage and provide testing-related services for students enrolled in California public schools, including the required Smarter Balanced tests administered in spring.

In this role, ETS maintains student demographic, test participation and assessment data.The exposed information also includes student grade level, date of birth and the school and district students attend.The hackers also obtained access to unique student identifier numbers as well as information about gender, race or ethnicity, primary language, country of origin and English learner status.

Also exposed was information about student disabilities and student eligibility status for federal programs, such as those available to help students from low-income families.The stolen data did not inclu...