Renton School District

The Renton School District experienced a data breach between December 28, 2021, and January 8, 2022, reported by the Washington State Office of the Attorney General on June 22, 2022. The incident involved unauthorized access to personal information, affecting 20,509 Washington residents, primarily students. The compromised data included student names and student identification numbers, though no financial, health, or highly sensitive details (e.g., Social Security numbers) were confirmed as exposed.The breach highlights vulnerabilities in the district’s data security measures, raising concerns over potential misuse of the exposed identifiers such as identity fraud or targeted phishing attacks against students or their families. While the immediate financial or operational impact on the district was not detailed, the incident underscores the risks of educational institutions as prime targets for cybercriminals due to the volume of personal data they store. The district likely faced reputational damage and may have incurred costs for investigation, notification, and remediation efforts, including credit monitoring for affected individuals.No evidence suggested the attack involved ransomware, large-scale financial theft, or systemic disruption to the district’s operations. However, the exposure of student records even if limited to names and IDs poses long-term privacy risks, particularly for minors.

Source: https://www.atg.wa.gov/data-breach-notifications | https://data.wa.gov/resource/sb4j-ca4h.json?id=13493

TPRM report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/renton-school-district

"id": "ren029091825",
"linkid": "renton-school-district",
"type": "Breach",
"date": "12/2021",
"severity": "85",
"impact": "4",
"explanation": "Attack with significant impact with customers data leaks"

{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': '20,509 (Washington residents)',
                        'industry': 'Education (K-12)',
                        'location': 'Renton, Washington, USA',
                        'name': 'Renton School District',
                        'type': 'Educational Institution'}],
 'data_breach': {'data_exfiltration': 'Likely (unauthorized access reported)',
                 'number_of_records_exposed': '20,509',
                 'personally_identifiable_information': ['student names',
                                                         'student '
                                                         'identification '
                                                         'numbers'],
                 'sensitivity_of_data': 'Moderate (student names and IDs)',
                 'type_of_data_compromised': ['Personally Identifiable '
                                              'Information (PII)']},
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2022-06-22',
 'description': 'Unauthorized access to personal information of approximately '
                '20,509 Washington residents, including student names and '
                'student identification numbers, occurred between December 28, '
                '2021, and January 8, 2022. The breach was reported by the '
                'Washington State Office of the Attorney General on June 22, '
                '2022.',
 'impact': {'data_compromised': ['student names',
                                 'student identification numbers'],
            'identity_theft_risk': 'Potential (due to exposed PII)'},
 'references': [{'source': 'Washington State Office of the Attorney General'}],
 'regulatory_compliance': {'regulatory_notifications': 'Washington State '
                                                       'Office of the Attorney '
                                                       'General'},
 'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Public disclosure via Washington '
                                        'State Office of the Attorney General'},
 'title': 'Renton School District Data Breach (2021-2022)',
 'type': 'Data Breach'}