El Dorado school district says hackers stole the data of over 30,000 students and staff

California-based El Dorado Union High School District said that the data security incident it suffered earlier this year compromised the sensitive personal information of more than 30,000 current and former students and staff.

 

Located in the southern half of El Dorado County in California, El Dorado Union High School District enrolls more than 6,500 students across four schools under its wing, namely Union Mine High School, Ponderosa High School, El Dorado High School, and Oak Ridge High School.

 

In a data security incident notification filed with the Office of Maine Attorney General, the school district said that on June 18, it identified suspicious activity in its internal network. District officials immediately launched an investigation with assistance from external cyber security experts to determine the nature and scope of the incident.

 

“The investigation determined that there was unauthorised access to its environment between May 25, 2024 and June 18, 2024, and that an unauthorised actor had the ability to acquire certain information stored on its network during the period of access,” reads the notice.

 

The compromised data included names and other personal identifiers along with Social Security Numbers. The school district’s filing with the Maine state regulator also revealed that at least 31,896 individuals were impacted by the incident.

 

“Upon learning of the incident, we commenced an investigation to understand the nature and scope of the incident. As part of our ongoing commitment to the privacy of information in our care, we are reviewing our policies, and procedures related to data privacy and security to reduce the likelihood of a similar future incident,” the District added.

 

El Dorado Union High School District has advised all affected individuals to regularly monitor their credit reports, account and benefit statements and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement authorities, including the police and state attorney general.

 

The District has also offered one year of complimentary identity protection and credit monitoring services through Equifax to all affected individuals.