On January 7, PowerSchool, the student information system used by our district and many others worldwide, had a cybersecurity incident affecting their systems. We have since confirmed that Albany County School District #1 is among the many districts nationwide impacted by this breach.
Important Points to Understand:
This incident occurred due to a third-party gaining unauthorized access to PowerSchool's national infrastructure systems, not through any vulnerability in our district's security measures or infrastructure.
The breach was entirely outside of our district's control and did not involve any failure of our data privacy and security protocols.
PowerSchool has confirmed that the unauthorized access was limited primarily to directory information such as names, addresses, and phone numbers.
No passwords, financial information, academic records, or behavioral records were compromised in this breach.
PowerSchool has informed its customers that they do not anticipate the stolen data being shared or made public, and they believe it has been deleted without further replication or dissemination. They have taken immediate steps to secure their systems and prevent any recurrence.
We are working closely with the Wyoming Department of Education, Wyoming Homeland Security, and the State of Wyoming Office of Cybersecurity to ensure a coordinated response. While PowerSchool has assured us that the breach is contained and there is no evidence of ongoing unauthorized activity, we will continue monitoring related accounts for any unusual activity as a precaution.
Our top priority remains the security of our students', staff, and families' information. PowerSchool has indicated they will soon release a detailed communication, which we will promptly share with our community. We understand the concern this may cause and appreciate your patience as we navigate this situation.
We will provide updates as soon as new information becomes available regarding this incident.