Security
650,000 Students Impacted by Assessment Data Breach
Two Nevada school districts are reporting data breaches involving a Pearson assessment solution.
More than 650,000 Nevada students from two school districts had personal information exposed in a data breach of a Pearson assessment solution, according to a report in the Las Vegas Review Journal.
The Clark County School District estimates that the breach impacted 559,487 students enrolled between 2008 and 2009. The Washoe County School District estimates that 114,000 students were impacted by the breach between 2001 and 2016.
Pearson confirmed on the data breach on July 31 with a company statement. The company said approximately 13,000 accounts who use Pearson Clinical Assessments AIMsweb accounts were impacted. The exposed data was limited to first name, last name and included birth date and/or email address in some instances.
According to Pearson, there is no evidence that the data stolen “has been misused.” The breach occurred in November 2018 and the FBI notified Pearson of the cyberattack in March, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
About the Author
Sara Friedman is a reporter/producer for Campus Technology, THE Journal and STEAM Universe covering education policy and a wide range of other public-sector IT topics.
Friedman is a graduate of Ithaca College, where she studied journalism, politics and international communications.
Friedman can be contacted at sfriedman@1105media.com or follow her on Twitter @SaraEFriedman.
Click here for previous articles by Friedman.