“Limited student information was compromised as part of this incident.” – Peel District School Board
A recent major cyberattack affecting schools across North America did involve Mississauga family data, according to Peel region school boards.
On Jan. 8, the Peel District School Board and the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board alerted students and parents to a cyberattack that took place over the December break at Powerschool, the American-based company that manages student data at many school boards across the province, School cyberattack affects Mississauga students country and internationally.
Two weeks later, on Jan. 20 the Peel District School Board issued a statement where they confirmed “that limited student information was compromised as part of this incident.” Student information such as name, address, phone numbers, date of birth, family contacts, grade level and student numbers, and more, was exposed.
At the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, the leak affected students enrolled as far back as 2003 and in addition to name, date of birth and contact information, could have also included details about medical conditions. In all, 19 school boards across the province had data stolen.
The Peel District School Board says that through their discussions with Powerschool, it is their understanding that “the data acquired by the unauthorized user was deleted and was not posted online.” Nevertheless, Powerschool says on their website that they will be offering two years of complimentary identity protection to all students and staff affected and credit monitoring services for all adult students and staff. So far, there has been no further information from the Peel or Dufferin-Peel Catholic Boards about how Mississauga students, parents and staff can access these services.
The Peel District School Board also informed parents that it referred the matter to the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) and that the IPC has launched an investigation. Students and Parents with questions or concerns about this cyberattack should email the Peel District School Board directly at: cyberincident@peelsb.com or the Dufferin-Peel Catholic Board at: cyberincident@dpcdsb.org.
