Baltimore City Schools suffered a **computer network breach** in February 2024, potentially compromising documents of **current, former, and prospective employees, volunteers, contractors**, and files linked to **less than 1.5% of students (~1,000 out of 75,000)**. The breach triggered an investigation with **law enforcement and external cybersecurity consultants**, leading to immediate actions like **password resets, endpoint detection software deployment, and a forensic audit**. Affected individuals are being notified via mail and offered **complimentary credit monitoring, identity-theft mitigation, and dark-web monitoring**. The district is establishing a **call center** for support and continues assessing the **scope of compromised data**, though specifics remain under review. Operational disruptions were acknowledged, but no evidence of **ransomware, financial fraud, or systemic outages** was reported. The focus remains on **notifying impacted parties** and strengthening defenses against future threats.
TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/baltcityschools
"id": "bal4203142110625",
"linkid": "baltcityschools",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "2/2024",
"severity": "60",
"impact": "3",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with internal employee data leaks"{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': '~1,000 students (<1.5%) + '
'unspecified number of '
'employees/volunteers/contractors',
'industry': 'education',
'location': 'Baltimore, Maryland, USA',
'name': 'Baltimore City Schools',
'size': '~75,000 students + employees/contractors',
'type': 'public school district'}],
'customer_advisories': ['credit monitoring and identity-theft mitigation '
'services offered',
'call center established for enrollment support'],
'data_breach': {'number_of_records_exposed': '~1,000 student records + '
'unspecified number of '
'employee/contractor/volunteer '
'records',
'personally_identifiable_information': True,
'sensitivity_of_data': ['personally identifiable information '
'(PII) likely included'],
'type_of_data_compromised': ['employee documents',
'volunteer documents',
'contractor documents',
'student-related files']},
'date_detected': '2024-02-01',
'date_publicly_disclosed': '2024-04-22',
'description': 'Baltimore City Schools suffered a computer network breach in '
'February 2024, potentially compromising documents belonging '
'to current, former, and prospective employees, volunteers, '
'contractors, and fewer than 1.5% of students (~1,000 out of '
'75,000). The district conducted an investigation with law '
'enforcement and external cybersecurity consultants, '
'implemented password resets, and installed endpoint detection '
'and response software. Affected individuals are being '
'notified via U.S. Mail and offered credit monitoring and '
'identity-theft mitigation services.',
'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': ['potential reputational harm due to '
'breach disclosure'],
'data_compromised': ['employee records',
'volunteer records',
'contractor records',
'student files (<1.5%)'],
'identity_theft_risk': ['potential risk for affected individuals '
'(credit monitoring offered)'],
'operational_impact': ['password resets',
'endpoint detection software installation',
'forensic audit'],
'systems_affected': ['computer network']},
'investigation_status': 'ongoing (forensic audit in progress, precise data '
'elements still being determined)',
'post_incident_analysis': {'corrective_actions': ['password resets',
'endpoint detection and '
'response software '
'installation',
'forensic audit',
'ongoing procedure '
'assessments']},
'recommendations': ['continue assessing procedures to defend against evolving '
'cybersecurity threats',
'coordinate with law enforcement and external experts'],
'references': [{'date_accessed': '2024-04-22',
'source': 'Baltimore City Schools Board of School '
'Commissioners Meeting (CEO Comments)'}],
'response': {'communication_strategy': ['U.S. Mail notifications to affected '
'individuals',
'website and social media updates',
'staff notifications',
'call center for support'],
'containment_measures': ['password resets for all users'],
'enhanced_monitoring': ['credit monitoring',
'dark-web monitoring for affected '
'individuals'],
'incident_response_plan_activated': True,
'law_enforcement_notified': True,
'recovery_measures': ['forensic audit',
'ongoing procedure assessments'],
'remediation_measures': ['installation of endpoint detection and '
'response software'],
'third_party_assistance': ['external cybersecurity consultants']},
'stakeholder_advisories': ['notifications to affected individuals via U.S. '
'Mail',
'general information posted on website and social '
'channels',
'staff notifications'],
'title': 'Baltimore City Schools Data Breach (February 2024)',
'type': ['data breach', 'unauthorized access']}