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Cyber Attack & Data Breach · securityweek.com

Florida Student Aid Breach May Expose Data of 4.9 Million

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Summary

Florida says hackers breached its student financial aid website, potentially exposing personal data of about 4.9 million people. The intrusion was discovered Oct. 19 and contained; the entry method and attackers remain unknown.

Key points

  • The Florida Department of Education says the breach was limited to its student financial aid website and may affect about 4.9 million people; it notes that not everyone was necessarily affected.
  • The department discovered the intrusion on October 19, launched incident response procedures and says it has contained the breach.
  • Information attackers may have accessed includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and gender codes.
  • The department has not disclosed how attackers gained access or who was responsible; no threat group had publicly claimed the attack.
  • The Florida Digital Service and Florida Department of Law Enforcement are assisting with the response. Some department websites and online services may be disrupted during remediation.
  • The department says existing student aid, disbursements, tuition payments and eligibility for scholarships, grants and loans will not be affected.

Article Details

Victim Organization
Florida Department of Education (FLDOE)
Victim Domain
FloridaStudentFinancialAidSG.org
Incident Type
Unauthorized access to the Florida Student Financial Aid website
Data Types Exposed
  • Names
  • Social Security numbers
  • Dates of birth
  • Home addresses
  • Phone numbers
  • Email addresses
  • Gender codes
Affected Records
Approximately 4.9 million individuals may have been impacted; not all were necessarily affected.
Operational Impact
FLDOE says it contained the breach. Some department websites and online services may be disrupted during remediation. Existing student aid, disbursements, tuition payments, and eligibility were not expected to be affected.
Ransom Or Extortion
No ransom or extortion claim was reported for this incident.
Claim Status
confirmed

Threat Actors

ShinyHuntersThe group claimed to have stolen more than 200,000 driver records in a separate September breach at the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. That agency confirmed database access but did not name ShinyHunters; the article does not link the group to the FLDOE breach.

Industries

EducationThe Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) says hackers breached its student financial aid website, potentially exposing the personal information of roughly 4.9 million people.

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