Digital Forensics Dispatch

U.S. School System Suffers Extreme Data Breach and Dark Web Leak

March 21, 2023

According to a recent article on CBSnews.com, Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) recently suffered a security breach, resulting in the theft of a great deal of district data. The affected data included personal information about current and former students, parents, staff, and even vendors. Recently, MPS notified parents and staff that the hackers responsible for the breach released some, if not all, the stolen data on the dark web.

While MPS is working with experts to forensically assess the extent of the breach, experts warn that anyone associated with the district should assume that their information has been compromised and take measures to protect themselves.

The data reportedly includes payroll information, protected health information, home addresses, phone numbers, disciplinary records, student records, pictures of students and staff, safety plans, misconduct complaints and civil rights investigations.

MPS states that it is contacting individuals directly if they are impacted by the breach and is offering free credit monitoring and identity protection services. However, cybersecurity experts caution that anyone associated with MPS should take additional steps to protect themselves, including monitoring their credit reports and changing passwords on any accounts associated with the district.

It is important to note that the group responsible for the attack, Medusa, has a history of ransomware attacks leveraging remote access tactics. It was also recently the subject a joint federal Cybersecurity Advisory or CSA.

In their latest warnings, MPS administrators urged families and staff to be cautious of suspicious emails or phone calls that might lead to phishing attacks. While the investigation appears to be ongoing, in a statement administrators said that the school “has fully restored our systems without the need to cooperate with the criminal.”

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