Months after the education software company PowerSchool settled a ransom payment to erase stolen student data, several school districts are reportedly facing new extortion attempts. PowerSchool, which services K-12 institutions for around 60 million students across North America, fell victim to a cyber attack in December 2024 when a hacker gained access through a compromised credential, exposing a vast array of personally identifiable information, including Social Security numbers and health records.
In response to the breach, PowerSchool disclosed that it paid a ransom to the hacker but has not revealed the payment amount. Recent communications from a threat actor to the Toronto district school board, which caters to approximately 240,000 students annually, indicate that they are now being demanded ransom using the data from the initial breach. Other educational institutions across North America, particularly in North Carolina, have also reported receiving similar extortion messages.
Despite PowerSchool’s assurance that paying the ransom was a means to prevent public exposure of the sensitive data, cybersecurity experts and law enforcement often caution against complying with ransom demands. This is due to the uncertainty that hackers will honour their word to delete the stolen data. Historical patterns in ransomware cases show that many attackers retain a significant amount of stolen data, frequently using it for further extortion.
PowerSchool has acknowledged that a new round of extortion threats has emerged, mentioning that samples of the data being used in these recent attempts align with the information stolen during the December breach. However, they do not consider this a separate incident. While the company has not disclosed the total number of individuals impacted by the breach, affected school districts have stated that all historical data of students and teachers was compromised.
In the case of Toronto’s school district, the stolen records date back to at least 2009, potentially affecting millions of individuals. With such extensive personal data at risk, the ramifications of the breach may extend well beyond the immediate financial threats posed by the extortion attempts. As the situation develops, it raises critical concerns regarding the security of educational data and the vulnerabilities that institutions face in protecting their students’ and staff’s information.
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