U.P. public schools hit hard with data breach

What's happening: Dozens of school districts across the Upper Peninsula are dealing with the fallout from a data breach with the third-party group PowerSchool. The breach impacts 60 million K-12 students and teachers worldwide, but many schools in the Upper Peninsula were also impacted, including Houghton-Portage Township, Munising and Negaunee. According to PowerSchool, the data breach was initially discovered on December 28 and is not considered a ransomware attack. Instead, it is a more common network break-in, but still put sensitive information like Social Security numbers, medical records and grades at risk. 

What is PowerSchool:  PowerSchool is a technology platform used for managing student information. Using expanded technology like AI and cloud-based software, PowerSchool helps teachers and school administrators organize various data points required for state funding and accreditation, like attendance. It also creates a portal for parents and students to review assignments and grades at home, manage schedules and more. Overall, PowerSchool serves 18,000 customers worldwide, with most of those customers in the United States and Canada. 

What they're saying: “It is worth noting that this breach is on PowerSchool’s end and has not affected any of our other systems in the district,” said Mid Peninsula Schools Superintendent Eric VanDamme. “As always, our top priority is to ensure the safety and security of our students and staff.”

What's next:  PowerSchool has hired a third-party group to investigate the breach, with further reporting to those schools directly impacted by the threat. Names and addresses taken could also lead to phishing and other scams so families and staff at impacted schools should take additional steps to be on the lookout. The company also said that the compromised credential used in the breach has been deactivated. The portal used in the breach has also been deactivated.