Data breach exposes personal information of 18,500 Bismarck Public Schools students

About 18,500 current and former Bismarck Public Schools students had some of their personal information exposed in a data breach at a company that provides a universal screening tool to the district.

The nationwide data breach involved Pearson Clinical Assessment's software called AIMSweb 1.0, which Bismarck Public Schools uses as a screening tool for students in kindergarten through fifth grade, as well as to monitor progress for students receiving support intervention. About 13,000 schools and universities were impacted, according to a July 31 statement from Pearson.

The company said the exposed data was isolated to first name, last name, and possibly in some instances date of birth and/or email address. Pearson said it believes the breach occurred around November 2018, according to a letter to Bismarck Public Schools. The FBI is investigating.

Pearson notified Bismarck Public Schools of the breach in a letter dated July 19, according to the district's technology director, Tanna Kincaid.

Read more: https://bismarcktribune.com/news/local/bismarck/data-breach-exposes-personal-information-of-bismarck-public-schools-students/article_9fada6a5-56c8-5a7d-b787-9c1de53b6414.html