Superintendent Alberto M. Carvalho of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has confirmed the release of data and documents stolen by the Vice Society Ransomware gang during a cyberattack in September.
The gang responsible for the attack on the school system posted stolen data on its data leak website that included sensitive information such as a student’s social security number, confidential psychological assessments of students, contract and legal documents, business records and numerous database entries.
“Unfortunately, as expected, the data was recently released by a criminal organization. In partnership with law enforcement, our experts are analyzing the full extent of this data release,” Carvalho tweeted.
The data was released after the school district said it would not comply with the ransom demands and that the money could be better spent on students and their education.
“Paying ransom never guarantees the full recovery of data, and Los Angeles Unified believes that public dollars are better spent on our students rather than capitulating to a nefarious and illicit crime syndicate,” the statement said.
LAUSD’s statement includes a new hotline for concerned parents and students to ask questions about the data leak.
The sources for this piece include an article in BleepingComputer.