Hacker Accessed Data of Millions of California Students via Contractor System, State Says
California's Department of Education said on October 16 that a hacker accessed the data of millions of students, including names, birth dates, addresses and disability status, by exploiting the system of its nonprofit contractor, Educational Testing Service (ETS). The data covered all students enrolled in the three previous school years; more than 5.7 million students were enrolled in California in the 2025-2026 school year.
ETS identified the breach, involving a secure file transfer protocol site, on September 25 and began an investigation, the department said. The investigation determined that an unauthorized party used a compromised login credential to access the site and copy files containing California student information at various times between May 22 and September 18, 2026. ETS began notifying students and their families on October 16. The department said ETS has not found that any of the information has been made public, and that Social Security numbers and sensitive financial information were not accessed.
In California, ETS administers statewide assessments, including those for English language proficiency. In an October 2 letter to county and district school officials, the department said ETS had stopped normal enrollment data processing, and that it was actively working to minimize disruption and resume affected assessment activities. (GSM, via Reuters)
The Department's incident notice adds that the data fields involved also included statewide student identifiers, gender, race/ethnicity and Section 504 plan status, while parents' and guardians' personal information was not involved; ETS will provide affected students and families with two years of Experian IdentityWorks identity protection services. See the California Department of Education ETS incident statement and FAQ page.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 加州州议会大厦，位于州教育厅所在地萨克拉门托 / The California State Capitol in Sacramento, home of the state Department of Education. Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public domain.
