Alabama State Schools Superintendent Eric Mackey said Wednesday that the Alabama Department of Education’s computer systems were hacked last month and that students and employees of the department may have been affected.
At a press conference in Montgomery, Mackey said the break-in occurred on June 17. According to Mackey, department personnel interrupted and stopped the attack.
Mackey said there was “no doubt” it was a denial-of-service attack to encrypt and steal data, so they had to be paid, but said officials were “still assessing exactly what data was stolen.”
“What I would say is that all parents and all local and state education officials should keep an eye on their credit. They should assume that there is a possibility that some of their data has been compromised,” he said.
Mackey said the department does not track direct deposit information.
“We do have information about what data may have been taken because we can see which servers the perpetrators were unable to access during the time they were there,” he said.
Mackey said a foreign agent may have been involved, but he said he could not provide further information.
“I shouldn’t say I don’t know,” he said. “I can’t answer that.”
According to a statement from the department, the Alabama Attorney General, the Alabama Office of Information Technology and an independent contractor are working with the department to strengthen cyber defenses and identify what data may have been compromised.
The statement states that the relevant parties will be informed, in full compliance with legislation and best practice.
The department has launched a dedicated landing page – alabamaachieves.org/databreach – and questions and comments can be sent to databreach@alsde.edu.
Alabama reflector is part of States Newsroom, an independent nonprofit organization that reports on politics and policy in state capitals across the country.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Alabama Department of Education Targeted by Cyberattack
