PowerSchool data breach affects Cumberland County Schools
By Staff Report, posted Jan 15, 2025 on BizFayetteville.com
Cumberland County Schools (CCS) is currently addressing a cybersecurity incident involving their former PowerSchool Student Information System (SIS). As part of their transition to Infinite Campus this school year, Cumberland County Schools moved to a new student information system. However, PowerSchool still retains access to certain legacy data.
On Dec. 28, 2024, PowerSchool became aware of a breach that began on Dec.19, 2024, due to unauthorized access caused by compromised credentials from a PowerSchool contract employee. This breach is part of a larger, global PowerSchool data breach.
The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) was notified of the breach on Jan. 7, 2025, and Cumberland County Schools was formally informed over the weekend. CCS was notified that the district’s data was impacted, specifically, their teacher and student data.
PowerSchool has confirmed that the breach has been contained and that the compromised data has been destroyed. The company is working with law enforcement to monitor for any potential exposure of data. According to CCS, it is important to note that neither Cumberland County Schools nor NCDPI could have prevented this incident, as they do not have administrative access to the system’s maintenance tunnel.
“Our district is working closely with NCDPI and PowerSchool to notify impacted individuals once the full scope of the breach is confirmed. We remain committed to protecting the data of our students and staff and will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available,” said the district in a released statement.
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