Student and Staff Information Part of Global PowerSchool Security Breach
On the afternoon of Wednesday, January 8, the Province was advised that personal information of some staff and current and former students in the Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education was stolen as part of a global PowerSchool cybersecurity breach.
PowerSchool is a widely-used information system used to track enrolment, attendance and grades. It does not include financial data like credit card information.
The Province is working with the vendor to determine the extent of the breach. While the full impact is not yet clear, there is no indication the PowerSchool system in any other centre for education has been affected.
“We take this incident very seriously,” said Education and Early Childhood Development Minister Brendan Maguire. “We are sharing information with families and affected staff and will continue to update them as we know more.”
PowerSchool says the breach is contained. Nova Scotia is conducting its own investigation to confirm that. The Province has also advised the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner.
Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and jurisdictions around the world were affected by the breach.
Quick Facts:
- PowerSchool supports the education system and contains information about 135,000 public school students across Nova Scotia
- Cape Breton-Victoria Regional Centre for Education includes more than 3,000 staff and more than 13,250 students
- personal information held within PowerSchool includes demographic information such as birth dates, addresses, allergies, MSI cards, emergency contact information and whether a student has an adaptation; it does not include detailed medical information or financial information
Source : Provincial Release
