Alvin Independent School District

Alvin Independent School District (AISD) in Texas experienced a ransomware attack in June 2024, which compromised the personal data of nearly 48,000 individuals, including students, staff, and possibly parents. The breach was disclosed only months later (reported in early October 2024), aligning with the broader trend in the education sector where organizations delay reporting such incidents often until stolen data surfaces online. The attack likely involved the exfiltration of sensitive information, such as student records, employee details, or financial data, before encryption or public leakage occurred. The delay in disclosure exacerbates risks, as affected individuals remained unaware of potential identity theft, fraud, or misuse of their data. AISD’s case mirrors a pattern seen in other school districts, including those impacted by the PowerSchool breach (December 2023), where third-party vendor vulnerabilities led to cascading compromises across North American educational institutions. The incident underscores systemic weaknesses in cybersecurity preparedness and transparency within the education sector, where ransomware groups exploit underfunded IT defenses and prolonged detection times.

Source: https://www.scworld.com/brief/education-slowest-to-report-ransomware-related-data-breaches

Spring ISD cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/springisd

"id": "SPR4281742112625",
"linkid": "springisd",
"type": "Ransomware",
"date": "12/2023",
"severity": "100",
"impact": "5",
"explanation": "Attack threatening the organization’s existence"

{'affected_entities': [{'customers_affected': '48000',
                        'industry': 'education (K-12)',
                        'location': 'Alvin, Texas, USA',
                        'name': 'Alvin Independent School District (AISD)',
                        'type': 'public school district'},
                       {'industry': 'education technology',
                        'location': 'North America (HQ: Folsom, California, '
                                    'USA)',
                        'name': 'PowerSchool',
                        'type': 'private company'},
                       {'industry': 'education (K-12)',
                        'location': 'North America',
                        'name': 'Over 100 unnamed school districts',
                        'type': 'public school districts'}],
 'data_breach': {'data_exfiltration': True,
                 'number_of_records_exposed': '48000 (AISD); unspecified '
                                              '(PowerSchool)',
                 'personally_identifiable_information': True,
                 'sensitivity_of_data': 'high',
                 'type_of_data_compromised': ['personally identifiable '
                                              'information (PII)']},
 'date_detected': '2024-06-01',
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2024-10-01',
 'description': "Organizations in the education sector, including Texas' Alvin "
                'Independent School District (AISD), experienced prolonged '
                'delays in disclosing ransomware-related data breaches. AISD '
                'confirmed a June 2024 incident affecting ~48,000 individuals '
                'only months later, in alignment with a broader trend where '
                'education entities took 4.8–6.3 months to disclose '
                'breaches longer than healthcare, government, or business '
                'sectors. The delays often followed public leaks of stolen '
                'data. This incident is part of a wider attack on PowerSchool, '
                'an online education software provider, which was compromised '
                'in December 2023, leading to lawsuits from over 100 affected '
                'school districts.',
 'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'high (delayed disclosure, lawsuits)',
            'data_compromised': True,
            'identity_theft_risk': 'likely (PII of ~48,000 individuals in '
                                   'AISD)',
            'legal_liabilities': 'lawsuits from over 100 school districts '
                                 '(PowerSchool)'},
 'initial_access_broker': {'data_sold_on_dark_web': 'likely (breach '
                                                    'disclosures often follow '
                                                    'public leaks)',
                           'high_value_targets': ['student/employee PII',
                                                  'education software data']},
 'investigation_status': 'ongoing (lawsuits pending)',
 'motivation': ['financial gain', 'data exfiltration'],
 'ransomware': {'data_exfiltration': True},
 'references': [{'source': 'K-12 Dive'}, {'source': 'Comparitech'}],
 'regulatory_compliance': {'legal_actions': 'lawsuits from school districts '
                                            '(PowerSchool)'},
 'response': {'communication_strategy': 'delayed disclosure (4.8–6.3 months '
                                        'post-breach)'},
 'title': 'Ransomware Attack on Alvin Independent School District and '
          'PowerSchool Data Breach',
 'type': ['ransomware', 'data breach']}