Florida Department of Education student financial aid website breached, exposing data of up to 4.9 million people
The Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) reported a breach of its student financial aid website, FloridaStudentFinancialAidSG.org, which may have affected about 4.9 million individuals. FLDOE discovered the intrusion on October 19, launched incident response and says the breach is contained. The department has not disclosed the initial access method or the perpetrator, and no threat group appears to have publicly claimed the attack. The Florida Digital Service and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are assisting, and some FLDOE sites and online services may be disrupted during remediation.
Detalhes técnicos
- Data potentially accessed: names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and gender codes. The specific data varies by person.
- Anyone who has applied for financial aid in Florida in the past could be affected.
- FLDOE believes the incident was limited to the Florida Student Financial Aid website.
- Context: a separate September incident at the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) involved compromised credentials of a local police department user. ShinyHunters claimed that attack, but FLHSMV did not name the group. The article does not link the two incidents.
Remediação
- FLDOE states existing aid is safe, and disbursements, tuition payments and eligibility for scholarships, grants and student loans will not be affected.
- The article does not describe specific steps for affected individuals. Given the exposure of SSNs, past applicants should expect notification and monitor for identity theft.
Linha do tempo
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Florida Department of Education student financial aid website breached, exposing data of up to 4.9 million people
ler a análise desta fonte ocultar
The Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) reported a breach of its student financial aid website, FloridaStudentFinancialAidSG.org, which may have affected about 4.9 million individuals. FLDOE discovered the intrusion on October 19, launched incident response and says the breach is contained. The department has not disclosed the initial access method or the perpetrator, and no threat group appears to have publicly claimed the attack. The Florida Digital Service and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are assisting, and some FLDOE sites and online services may be disrupted during remediation.
Technical Details
- Data potentially accessed: names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and gender codes. The specific data varies by person.
- Anyone who has applied for financial aid in Florida in the past could be affected.
- FLDOE believes the incident was limited to the Florida Student Financial Aid website.
- Context: a separate September incident at the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (FLHSMV) involved compromised credentials of a local police department user. ShinyHunters claimed that attack, but FLHSMV did not name the group. The article does not link the two incidents.
Remediation
- FLDOE states existing aid is safe, and disbursements, tuition payments and eligibility for scholarships, grants and student loans will not be affected.
- The article does not describe specific steps for affected individuals. Given the exposure of SSNs, past applicants should expect notification and monitor for identity theft.