Case Study: PowerSchool Data Breach – Lessons in Educational Cybersecurity

In the final days of 2024, PowerSchool, a leading provider of cloud-based software for K-12 education, experienced a critical cybersecurity breach that rocked the Education Industry across North America. Threat actors gained unauthorized access to the PowerSource customer support portal using compromised credentials between December 22 and 28. Leveraging a maintenance tool accessible through the portal, attackers exfiltrated sensitive data from PowerSchool's Student Information System (SIS).

As a trusted partner for thousands of schools across North America, PowerSchool's breach had widespread ramifications, notably affecting educational institutions in both Canada and the USA from coast to coast. The exposed data included personally identifiable information (PII) of students and educators, encompassing names, addresses, Social Security Numbers (SSNs), and potentially sensitive records such as academic performance and medical histories.

Impact of the Breach

Quantitative Impact

1. Number of Schools Affected: Over 2,000 school districts using PowerSchool were potentially impacted.
2. Records Exposed: Approximately 3 million student and educator records were accessed.
3. Financial Costs: While undisclosed, breaches of this scale often incur expenses exceeding $10 million, factoring in regulatory fines, legal fees, and remediation costs.

Qualitative Impact

• Erosion of Trust: Concerns about data security and the reliability of educational technology platforms surged among parents and educators.
• Regulatory Scrutiny: Regulatory investigations by bodies such as Canada’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner and the U.S. Department of Education are expected.
• Operational Disruption: Schools dependent on PowerSchool's SIS for operations like attendance tracking and grading faced delays as security measures were implemented.

Analysis of Implications

Within The Cybersecurity Landscape

This incident demonstrates the increasing sophistication of cyber threats targeting the education sector:

• Targeted Exploitation: Educational institutions remain attractive targets due to their extensive PII repositories and comparatively weaker defenses.
• Supply Chain Risks: PowerSchool's breach amplified risks across its client network, demonstrating the cascading effects of supply chain vulnerabilities.

Educational Sector Challenges To Security

• Limited Cybersecurity Budgets: Schools often must prioritize teaching resources over cybersecurity investments due to restricted budgets, leaving them vulnerable.
• Dependence on Cloud Platforms: Growing reliance on third-party solutions emphasizes the need for rigorous vendor security assessments.

Looking To The Future

The breach highlights urgent priorities that are often overlooked or consciously ignored that must be addressed in order to mitigate future breaches of the same nature:

1. Enhanced Cybersecurity Frameworks: Comprehensive strategies, including multi-layered defenses, real-time monitoring, and incident response plans, are critical.
2. Stronger Regulations: Faced with the large scale of damage that has occured across North America due to the PowerSchool breach, Educational data privacy laws may need to evolve, adopting stricter safeguards akin to those in healthcare and finance. These changes will likely require significant funding and planning.

Cause and Prevention

Causes

• The breach was initiated through compromised credentials, likely obtained via phishing or previous data leaks.
• Absence of multi-factor authentication (MFA) allowed unauthorized access.
• Ineffective monitoring failed to detect data exfiltration for several days.

Prevention

Immediate Actions to Mitigate Future Risk:

1. MFA Implementation: Reinforce account security with additional verification steps.
2. Vulnerability Scanning: Proactively identify system and vendor weaknesses.
3. Enhanced Monitoring: Deploy AI-driven tools to flag suspicious activity in real time.
4. Data Segmentation: Enforce strict role-based access controls to limit exposure.

Incident Response Evaluation

Timeline of Actions

1. Discovery: Unusual activity in the customer portal flagged the breach on December 28, 2024.
2. Containment: Access credentials were deactivated, and the portal temporarily locked down.
3. Expert Engagement: PowerSchool engaged CrowdStrike for breach analysis and remediation.
4. Post-Incident Actions: Security updates, stronger access protocols, and a ransom payment were reported.

Effectiveness Evaluation

While containment was prompt, the sheer number of effected schools and the decision to pay a ransom attracted criticism. Reliance on attacker assurances for data deletion is inherently risky. However, as of right now, it seems that the attackers have deleted all of the data they exfiltrated (As of January 15th, 2025). Critics are also quick to point out that preventative measures, such as robust MFA and anomaly detection, could have mitigated the breach altogether.

Mitigation Strategies with EIP Networks

Educational institutions, like those impacted by the PowerSchool breach, face unique cybersecurity challenges. EIP Networks offers advanced, tailored solutions to protect K-12 schools and higher education institutions from similar cyber threats.

Proactive Measures for Educational Institutions

• Zero-Trust Architecture: Implement the principle of least privilege to tightly control access to critical systems, minimizing data exposure across school districts.
• End-to-End Encryption: Secure sensitive student data—both in transit and at rest—ensuring that even if data is intercepted, it remains unreadable and protected.
• Continuous Security Training: Equip educators and administrative staff with the knowledge to identify phishing attempts, social engineering tactics, and other malicious activities that often lead to data breaches.

Incident Response Solutions for Schools

• 24/7 Threat Monitoring: Our Security Operations Center (SOC) continuously monitors school networks, ensuring real-time detection and response to any threats targeting sensitive student and faculty data.
• Rapid Containment:When a threat is detected, we deploy automated tools to isolate compromised systems and prevent further damage, minimizing disruption to school operations.
• Forensics and Recovery: EIP Networks provides thorough breach analysis and secure recovery, guiding institutions through the process of restoring data and securing systems without further compromise.

Post-Breach Assistance for Educational Institutions

• Regulatory Compliance Support: With regulations like FERPA in the U.S. and PIPEDA in Canada, we ensure educational institutions meet the strictest standards for protecting student data.
• Custom Security Strategies: Tailored roadmaps to help schools build robust cybersecurity programs that align with their unique operational needs and budget constraints.

The PowerSchool data breach demonstrates the vulnerabilities of the educational sector's digital infrastructure and the importance of proactive cybersecurity measures. EIP Networks is committed to empowering educational institutions to implement proactive, layered defenses to protect sensitive student and educator data, maintain trust, and comply with ever-evolving regulations.

Take the next step in securing your institution — contact EIP Networks for a free cybersecurity assessment today. #WeDoThat