ETS breach exposes data on millions of California students
Original title: Millions of California students’ sensitive data stolen in breach
Stolen SFTP logins were used between May 22 and September 18; Social Security numbers and financial data were not included.
Educational Testing Service says an unauthorized party used compromised login details to copy California student files from an ETS-operated SFTP site. The California Department of Education says the breach covers students enrolled over the previous three school years and is not limited to that group. Exposed data can include names, student identifiers, birth dates, addresses, demographics, disability and program data, and test scores. ETS says it has found no evidence the stolen information has been made public.
Unconfirmed: ETS says it has found no evidence so far that the stolen information has been published.
- Access occurred at various times between May 22 and September 18.
- Over 5.7 million students were enrolled in California public schools in 2025–2026.
- Not every affected student had every data category exposed.
- Social Security numbers, financial accounts, passwords and parent information were not involved.
- ETS is offering two years of free identity-protection services.
Impact: Student education, disability and assessment records copied
- 1.Verify incident messages through official channels before acting.
- 2.Enroll affected people in the two years of free identity-protection services.
- 3.Do not share passwords, security codes or payment details with unsolicited contacts.
- ATT&CK
- T1078 Valid Accounts
- Organizations
- Educational Testing Service
- Countries
- United States
From the original article
2 min read at malwarebytes.com
The California Department of Education notified students about a data breach at contractor Educational Testing Service.
By @MetallicaMVP · malwarebytes.com
A short excerpt; the article and its images belong to the publisher. Summary, key facts and assessment above are AI-written from the article and can be wrong.