Los Angeles school district reveals ransomware gang leaked thousands of student health records online
LAUSD Superintendent Albert Carvalho said a Russian ransomware gang was responsible
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The health records of around 2,000 current and former Los Angeles students were published to the dark web after last year’s ransomware attack, the district revealed Wednesday.
Jack Kelanic, the district’s senior IT administrator, said the district is still working to assess the ramifications of the widely-reported September 2022 ransomware attack, which are only now being realized.
FILE: Seventh and eighth grades students attend a combined Advanced Engineering class at Olive Vista Middle School on the first day back following the winter break amid a dramatic surge in Covid-19 cases across Los Angeles County on January 11, 2022, (Getty Images / Getty Images)
"As [LAUSD] and its partners delve deeper into the reality of the data breach, the scope of the attack further actualizes and new discoveries have been revealed," Kelanic said Wednesday.
The administrator said 2,000 student assessment records have been confirmed as part of the attack – including 60 of whom are currently enrolled – as well as driver’s license and social security numbers and COVID-19 test results. Some of these records, he said, even go back several decades, creating "further time-consuming analysis."
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"Los Angeles Unified takes student, family and employee privacy very seriously and has been implementing enhanced protections and procedures to ensure our data security," Kelanic said.
"As we continue to ascertain the accuracy and thoroughness of the data and follow protocols to conduct a comprehensive review, we have already notified some individuals and vendors who have been impacted by this attack and will continue notifying individuals as they are determined."
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LAUSD Superintendent Albert Carvalho said the Russian ransomware gang Vice Society was responsible for the attack and had placed the material online.