Information Technology

Information, news and features for the education sector IT professionals


565 Schools, Over 1M Students in NY Impacted by Illuminate Data Breach, NYSED Says; 2nd Colorado District Notifies Parents

The New York State Education Department says 565 schools in the state — including over 1 million current and former students — were among those whose private student data was compromised during a January cyberattack on Illuminate Education’s systems, and officials have opened an investigation, NYSED told THE Journal.

Online Safety Provider Family Zone Announces Agreement to Acquire Qustodio

Australia-based online monitoring and safety provider Family Zone today announced it will acquire competitor Qustodio and its subsidiaries in a deal valued at $52 million, according to a news release.

Illuminate Education Data Breach Impacted At Least 24 Districts, 18 Charter Schools in NY; Investigation Launched

At least 24 school districts and 18 charter schools in New York — totaling “at least” a million students in the state of New York alone — were impacted by the breach of private student data that occurred during a January cyberattack on Illuminate Education’s systems, and the New York State Education Department has launched an investigation into the data breach, a NYSED official told THE Journal.

Ransomware Hit 56% of K-12 Organizations Worldwide in 2021, Sophos Survey Finds

Cybersecurity firm Sophos today released its annual State of Ransomware report showing ransomware attacks nearly doubled in 2021 from the year before, and 56% of K–12 IT professionals responding, representing 320 districts, said they were a victim of ransomware last year.

InnovateEDU Launches Open-Source Blueprint for Inclusive Research and Development in Education [BIRD-E]

Education nonprofit InnovateEDU today launched the Blueprint for Inclusive Research and Development in Education, dubbed BIRD-E, an open source, universal framework designed to generate actionable, high-quality research that ed tech providers, policymakers, researchers, education leaders, and other K-12 stakeholders can easily access, understand, and apply in the classroom.

Another School District Says Student Data Breached Within an Illuminate Education Product

Another school district has announced that student data stored on Illuminate Education software has been breached and said Illuminate is is mailing a letter to parents offering “complimentary” identity monitoring service for a year.

Safety and Wellness Platform Securly Acquires SEL Provider and Check–In App Rhithm

Securly, provider of student safety solutions and online activity monitoring, today announced it has acquired Rhithm, the mental health check-in app that promotes student well-being with social-emotional learning activities and content.

Closing the U.S. Homework Gap Using Unlicensed Spectrum

Almost 17 million students had no access to the internet in their homes at the start of the pandemic, while many more were impeded by unreliable internet connectivity and slow speeds. This divide wasn’t only restricted to rural locations; it was mirrored in towns and cities too.

Clever Unveils Expanded Identity Management Tool with New Active Directory Integration

In response to growing cybersecurity concerns combined with staffing shortages among U.S. K–12 schools, digital learning platform and single sign-on provider Clever today unveiled an expanded identity management solution that adds support for Microsoft Active Directory, the company said in a news release.

IO Classroom Cyberattack in January Compromised Personal Data of Over 800K NYC Students

A January cyberattack targeting Illuminate Education’s digital grading, attendance, and parent-teacher communication platforms used by New York City’s public schools resulted in a data breach affecting about 820,000 current and former students, but the number of students whose data was compromised could be much larger, as the IO Classroom platform targeted in the attack serves about 5 million U.S. students and over 7,000 K–12 districts.

Whitepapers