2,000 assessment records breached in LAUSD cyber attack

About 2,000 assessment records were breached during the September cyber attack on Los Angeles Unified, affecting at least 60 currently enrolled students, the district is now disclosing. Compromised records have primarily affected former district students and include some drivers license numbers and social security numbers.

The new information comes after education news site The 74 revealed that hundreds if not thousands of sensitive mental health records for former district students were posted to the dark web containing details about education services, medical histories and disciplinary records.

It is not clear how many affected students have been notified of the breach. LAUSD, which addressed the situation in a statement attributed to IT infrastructure senior administrator Jack Kelanic, wrote that the district has notified some individuals and vendors who have been impacted by this attack and will continue to do so as determined.

“This is an ongoing investigation in partnership with forensic and cybersecurity experts where arduous, painstaking efforts are taking place to comb through the data, review individual pieces, determine what information was accessed, locate the impacted individuals and notify them of resources to protect themselves,” the statement read. “The aftermath of a cyberattack is a multi-layered, dynamic process in which real-time updates often alter the direction of an investigation.”

The cyber attack on LAUSD initially surfaced over Labor Day weekend but is thought to have started July 31. The district refused to pay ransom, which resulted in the release of 500 gigabytes of data on the dark web, including vendor information, though district officials indicated that the impact was not widespread. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho initially said no psychological evaluations were included in the data leak.