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Penticton-Summerland student info may have been accessed in cyber attack

Email sent home saying students files, including contact info, class photo are vulnerable
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On Monday, March 4, families started receiving emails from Okanagan Skaha School District stating that the cyber attack last month had affected the security of their child’s personal information.

On Feb. 13, the school district responded to a cyber security breach in which an unauthorized entity gained access to certain school district information systems.

As soon as the intrusion was detected, the district disabled key systems to limit the potential impacts and engaged cybersecurity experts to assist with the response, as well as the RCMP.

In the course of the ongoing investigation, SD67 has determined that personal information belonging to parents and students may have been at risk. The impacted files appear to be limited to the period between 2022 and 2024, said SD67’s secretary-treasurer Nicole Bittante in the letter.

Among the types of information possibly accessed are student records, report cards, birth date and school picture, medical information, attendance records and bus lists.

“Although we have no reports or other evidence that any of this information has been used for fraudulent purposes, we want you to be aware of the situation, including the steps we are taking to address this issue, and the precautions that we recommend you take to protect your personal information.”

The district recommends:

• Be vigilant about any fraud or identity theft

• If you have access to School Cash Online, you should change your password

• Be suspicious of suspicious emails, texts or phone calls

READ MORE: Investigation, support continues after Okanagan Skaha school district cyber incident

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Monique Tamminga

About the Author: Monique Tamminga

Monique brings 20 years of award-winning journalism experience to the role of editor at the Penticton Western News. Of those years, 17 were spent working as a senior reporter and acting editor with the Langley Advance Times.
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