City schools respond to cyber security incident | News, Sports, Work

On Tuesday, PowerSchool notified the Jamestown Public Schools leadership team of a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to certain PowerSchool student information systems. Jamestown Public Schools was among the many affected PowerSchool customers around the world.

“PowerSchool will provide us with more detailed information and resources. We will provide all necessary information as it becomes available to us,” the district said in a statement Friday. “While PowerSchool is responsible for this incident and its consequences, JPS is committed to protecting the data of our students, staff and families and will continue to report this incident transparently.”

District officials have tapped PowerSchool’s detailed report on the event for more information, and more information will be provided to JPS members as it becomes available.

– What happened? — According to PowerSchool, an attacker used compromised PowerSchool administrative credentials belonging to a subcontractor to access data stored in the PowerSource global management system. When PowerSchool became aware of the incident on December 28, 2024, they notified law enforcement, locked down the system, and engaged the services of CrowdStrike (a cybersecurity company that develops software to help companies detect, prevent, and respond to cyberattacks) and Cyber ​​Steward (a professional advisor on experience in negotiating with threatening actors).

— What data could be accessed? — PowerSchool told JPS that the data being accessed primarily includes student, parent and staff contact information such as name, address and phone numbers. JPS does not store Social Security numbers in PowerSchool, and no financial information was included in the data event.

PowerSchool says they have received “reasonable assurances from the threat that the data has been deleted and no additional copies exist. We do not expect this data to be shared or made public, and we believe it has been deleted without further copying or distribution. We have video to confirm the takedown and are actively searching the dark web to confirm.”

– What will happen next? — PowerSchool said the incident is contained and they have no evidence of malware or ongoing unauthorized activity in the PowerSchool environment. They are not experiencing and do not expect any disruptions and are continuing to provide services to school districts as usual.

PowerSchool said, “While we are not aware of and do not anticipate any actual or attempted misuse of personal information or any financial harm to affected individuals as a result of this incident.”