An investigation is underway after school districts across the world were impacted by a cybersecurity event , including Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.On Tuesday, PowerSchool, the state of North Carolina’s student information system provider, notified WS/FCS that an unauthorized party gained access to its system. Officials said school systems across the state, country and world were impacted.Information about WS/FCS students, families and staff was compromised during this incident.The incident is under investigation by PowerSchool, federal law enforcement and North Carolina Department of Public Instruction officials. According to PowerSchool, the incident is contained and it does not anticipate any data being shared or made public.WS/FCS is working with PowerSchool and the state DPI to identify what information was accessed and to determine what steps will be taken to support any individual whose data has been breached.The DPI said there was no action that could have been taken to prevent the incident, saying it happened at a “company” level.Our news partner, WRAL, confirmed that several school districts in the Triangle were also affected.PowerSchool is a web-based platform school systems are required by the state to use to maintain student and staff data. PowerSchool released a statement saying: On December 28, 2024, we became aware of a potential cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to certain PowerSchool SIS information through one of our community-focused customer portals, PowerSource. We have taken all appropriate steps to prevent the data involved from further unauthorized access or misuse. The incident is contained and we do not anticipate the data being shared or made public. PowerSchool is not experiencing, nor expects to experience, any operational disruption and continues to provide services as normal to our customers.As soon as we learned of the incident, we immediately engaged our cybersecurity response protocols and mobilized a cross-functional response team, including senior leadership and third-party cybersecurity experts.PowerSchool is committed to protecting the security and integrity of our applications. We take our responsibility to protect student data privacy and act responsibly as data processors extremely seriously. Our priority is to support our customers through this incident and to continue our unrelenting focus on data security.PowerSchool is committed to providing affected customers, families, and educators with the resources and support they may need as we work through this together.To see WS/FCS’s full statement, visit the website here.
An investigation is underway after school districts across the world were impacted by a cybersecurity event , including Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.
On Tuesday, PowerSchool, the state of North Carolina’s student information system provider, notified WS/FCS that an unauthorized party gained access to its system. Officials said school systems across the state, country and world were impacted.
Information about WS/FCS students, families and staff was compromised during this incident.
The incident is under investigation by PowerSchool, federal law enforcement and North Carolina Department of Public Instruction officials. According to PowerSchool, the incident is contained and it does not anticipate any data being shared or made public.
WS/FCS is working with PowerSchool and the state DPI to identify what information was accessed and to determine what steps will be taken to support any individual whose data has been breached.
The DPI said there was no action that could have been taken to prevent the incident, saying it happened at a “company” level.
Our news partner, WRAL, confirmed that several school districts in the Triangle were also affected.
PowerSchool is a web-based platform school systems are required by the state to use to maintain student and staff data.
PowerSchool released a statement saying:
On December 28, 2024, we became aware of a potential cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to certain PowerSchool SIS information through one of our community-focused customer portals, PowerSource. We have taken all appropriate steps to prevent the data involved from further unauthorized access or misuse. The incident is contained and we do not anticipate the data being shared or made public. PowerSchool is not experiencing, nor expects to experience, any operational disruption and continues to provide services as normal to our customers.
As soon as we learned of the incident, we immediately engaged our cybersecurity response protocols and mobilized a cross-functional response team, including senior leadership and third-party cybersecurity experts.
PowerSchool is committed to protecting the security and integrity of our applications. We take our responsibility to protect student data privacy and act responsibly as data processors extremely seriously. Our priority is to support our customers through this incident and to continue our unrelenting focus on data security.
PowerSchool is committed to providing affected customers, families, and educators with the resources and support they may need as we work through this together.
To see WS/FCS’s full statement, visit the website here.