Alabama’s State Department of Education recently experienced a significant data breach following a thwarted ransomware attack on June 17. Although IT professionals managed to stop the attack, threat actors accessed some data and disrupted services. Superintendent Eric Mackey revealed that while the full extent of the breach is still being determined, some student and employee data might have been compromised. Employee bank accounts and direct deposit information remained secure, as they are not stored on state servers.
Superintendent Mackey advised parents and education employees to monitor their credit, acknowledging the potential compromise of their data. The department is investigating the incident with the assistance of external experts. Mackey suspects that financially motivated foreign actors were behind the attack.