Maryland’s Concord Public Schools and the Concord-Carlisle Regional School District over the weekend notified an additional 1,485 employees of an April 2024 data breach that compromised names, Social Security numbers, credit card details, addresses, and bank account information.
No ransomware group has claimed responsibility for the attack as of time of writing.
The school originally disclosed the breach on May 14, notifying 10,006 people according to the Maine Attorney General. We don’t yet know whether the 1,485 people notified today were part of the original 10,006 people notified in May. Only the latest notification mentioned credit card details.
We also do not know whether a ransom was demanded, how much the ransom was, or whether Concord Public Schools paid it. We don’t know how attackers breached the school’s network.
Comparitech contacted Concord Public Schools for comment and will update this article if they respond.
We recommend victims take advantage of the free credit monitoring services offered by Concord Public Schools via CyberScout.
Ransomware attacks on US education
In addition to data theft, ransomware attacks can cripple key systems, forcing schools to cancel classes and pay high recovery costs.
Comparitech has recorded 19 confirmed attacks on US schools and colleges this year so far, affecting 24,054 records. These follow 109 attacks in 2023, affecting 2,041,576 records. The average ransom across 2023/24 in the education sector is $483,000.
We’ve also logged 30 unconfirmed attacks on US schools and colleges so far this year.
News of the attack on Concord comes at the same time as another against Rockford Public Schools in Michigan. Ransomware gang INC claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it stole 1.5 TB of data.
Other recent ransomware attacks on US education include the Bayonne, NJ board of education, Webber International University, and the Assocation of California School Administrators.
About Concord Public Schools
Concord Public Schools and the Carlisle Regional District consist of five schools in Maryland: Alcott Elementary, Thoreau Elementary, Willard Elementary, Concord Middle, and Concord-Carlisle High.