THE CRUNCH
Frontline Education, which makes administration software for K-12 school districts, is notifying more than 1.3 million people that their personal information was stolen in a data breach. Attackers exploited a vulnerability in a third-party software product to get into Frontline's environment on August 14, and the company says the attack was fully contained by August 15.
The stolen data came from the Frontline Central and School Health Management products and covers both district staff and students. What was taken varies by person but may include names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver's licence numbers, passport and other government ID numbers, health insurance details such as Medicaid IDs, and Student IDs.
State attorney general filings in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Texas and Vermont put the count at 1,298,917 people, but Frontline also filed in California, Indiana and Iowa and possibly in states without breach portals, so the true total is likely well above 1.3 million.
Frontline says it has notified affected districts and, working with them, begun contacting individuals by email or post. Affected US adults get two years of free credit monitoring and identity-theft protection, while qualified minors are offered free dark-web monitoring, which watches for their details appearing on hidden marketplaces.