South Suburban College says cyber attack impacted over 96,000 individuals

South Holland, Illinois-based South Suburban College said that the data breach it suffered last year compromised the sensitive personal information of more than 96,000 individuals.

In a data breach notice filed with the Maine State Attorney’s office, South Suburban College, which offers associate degree and certificate programs, said that on November 8, it became aware of a data security incident affecting its internal network. The threat actor, who infiltrated its network, also encrypted certain systems and demanded a ransom in exchange of a decryption key.

“Upon detecting the incident, SSC moved quickly to secure its network environment and launched a thorough investigation. The investigation was performed with the help of independent IT security and forensic investigators to determine the scope and extent of the potential unauthorised access of our systems and any personal information,” the college said.

The investigation revealed that sensitive personal information of students and staff were accessed during the ransomware attack. The compromised data included names, mailing addresses, dates of birth, and social security numbers. South Suburban College’s filing with the Maine state regulator also revealed that at least 96,012 individuals were impacted by the incident.

“The security and privacy of personal data remain among SSC’s highest priorities. SSC is taking steps to prevent a similar event from occurring in the future by implementing additional safeguards and enhanced security measures to better protect the privacy and security of information in its systems,” SSC added.

While SSC found no evidence of the compromised information being misused, it 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 college has also offered one year of complimentary identity protection and credit monitoring services through TransUnion to all affected individuals.