Rutherford County Schools reports cybersecurity incident, potential data breach
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Rutherford County Schools (RCS) has experienced a significant cybersecurity incident that began on November 25, 2024, affecting their network and system operations.
The district has managed to restore most services through their backup and recovery protocols. The investigation into the incident remains active, with the district working alongside national experts and law enforcement to fully understand the scope and impact of the breach.
The nature of the attack is not disclosed.
Subsequently, a threat actor made an online post claiming to possess personal data belonging to RCS employees. The district has since confirmed that preliminary findings indicate possible unauthorized access to employee files, though the exact nature and extent of the compromised data remains under investigation.
RCS claims that there is no evidence of compromise to student information systems, and no student personal data has been found posted online. They are committed to notifying any affected employees in accordance with legal requirements once the full scope of the breach is determined.
Update - as of 7th of January 2025, more details became available - initially, the Black Suit ransomware group claimed to have attacked RCS Tennessee, but this was later confirmed to be false by the district's spokesperson. Rhysida ransomware group subsequently claimed the attack, which proved to be true.
The incident involved a ransomware attack with a reported ransom demand of $2 million in Bitcoin. After non-payment, Rhysida leaked approximately 60% of 1.2 TB of stolen data.
Exposed Data Types:
- Student Health Records:
- Physical and psychiatric condition details
- Medication information
- Physician reports
- Allergy action plans
- Home study referrals
- Special Education Records (SPED):
- Psychoeducational evaluations
- IQ test results
- Academic achievement tests
- Social histories
- Student IDs and Social Security numbers
- Employee Information:
- Employment contracts
- Direct deposit applications
- Social Security numbers
- Photo IDs
- Academic transcripts
Scope and Impact:
- Over 9,000 files in health records folder
- Approximately 30,000 SPED-related files
- Around 30,000 employee-related files
