N.W.T. school boards hit by massive data breach, territory confirms
Program provider became aware of breach in December, still learning more
Records from school boards in the N.W.T. have been opened up in a massive data breach that has hit Canada, the U.S. and other parts of the world, according to the territorial government.
In a news release Thursday evening, the territory confirmed records stored in a cloud software program called PowerSchool — including names, addresses, contact details and student medical information — had been accessed without permission.
The territory said the breach has hit the Beaufort Delta Division Education Council, the Dehcho Divisional Education Council, the South Slave Divisional Education Council, Yellowknife Catholic Schools and Yellowknife Education District No. 1.
PowerSchool is a widely used provider that manages things like students' personal information and communication with parents. It said it became aware of the incident on Dec. 28 and, in an update on Monday, it said it was still learning more about what had happened.
The N.W.T. government said the territory's chief information officer confirmed the breach on Wednesday, and that PowerSchool said a compromised credential had been used to do it.
"As soon as PowerSchool learned of the incident, they immediately engaged their cybersecurity response protocols. PowerSchool has implemented enhanced security measures and confirmed that the breach has been contained," the statement from the N.W.T. government reads.
The territory says the chief information officer's office is leading an analysis and investigation of its own, and that staff and students within the affected school boards will get updates on the issue.
Cyberattacks can do serious damage. In this case, it has endangered the vast trove of information schools collect from students, families and staff. In other cases, it can derail day-to-day operations by knocking out school board-wide networks.