Frederick County Public Schools Affected By Nationwide Data Breach

FCPS says a ‘threat actor’ gained unauthorized access to data about teachers and students.Frederick, Md (KM) A nationwide data breach involving school systems across the country has affected Frederick County Public Schools.  FCPS posted a statement on its website to say the data breach involved PowerSchool, a Student Information System used by school systems across the country, including Frederick County.The breach occurred between December 19th and the 28th, 2024, when a threat actor gained unauthorized access to school systems around the country, including FCPS   The local school system says it became aware of the threat on January 7th, and was told on January 8th that this data breach affected FCPS..FCPS says the compromised data included information about teachers and students. PowerSchool says the data has been deleted and is no longer accessible. It also says the FBI and a cybersecurity firm called CrowdStrike have been called in to investigate.CrowdStrike says none of this data has been found on the dark web, but it will continue to monitor those sites.Frederick County Public Schools says it stopped collecting Social Security numbers from students ten years ago.”While PowerSchool is responsible for this incident and its impact, our team acted swiftly once we were notified and is continuing to investigate,” says Frederick County Public Schools in that news release. “FCPS understands the importance of your trust and is diligently committed to protecting our student and staff data,”Continuing in its news release, Frederick County Public Schools says: “PowerSchool has informed FCPS that they will provide additional information, including contact information, that community members can dialogue directly with the company. We will share that information with you once is available.”By Kevin McManus