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Student Social Security numbers continue to be vulnerable to a security breach

According to privacyrights.org, in 2012 alone over 1,503,851 educational institutions have had sensitive information breached, hacked, or stolen.

In 2011, 572,975 records were breached, hacked, or stolen.

This concerning information should be a high priority for all school districts. Rick Carlson, President of Panda Security US stated,

“While the Internet is an invaluable tool for education, it can cause serious interruptions to day-to-day operations if schools fail to properly address security concerns. The findings of the Kindergarten-12 Education IT Security Study point to a clear need for a security solution that effectively balances cost, time management and superior protection.”

Schools need to build strong school policies rather than just put a “Band-Aid” on problems that will cost greatly down the road. For example, they need to know who has access to the schools network, and monitor usage from all devices using the internet. They need firewalls, they should encrypt data, authenticate usage, and make certain that antivirus software is installed on all personal computers, laptops, or smart phones belonging to the school districts.

While many school districts have taken appropriate steps, statistics show unfortunately that many have not. According to a study conducted by Fordham Law School in 2009, over forty states do not have a clear data retention policy for student information; 16 states warehouse student’s social security numbers.

Joel Reidenberg, a professor at Fordham Law School stated it best, “This is making a much bigger honey pot for people with malevolent purposes to gain access to children’s information. It’s a meltdown waiting to happen.”

Parents need to be concerned on how their children’s social security numbers are being protected. Don’t be afraid to ask questions—after all, your children’s financial future could be at risk. For more information on how to protect your kids from identity thieves, click here.

If you or your child’s identity has been breached, I would like to hear from you. What is your school district doing in order to protect your children’s information?

Dennis Schmid is a married father of 3 living in Mesa, Arizona. Dennis works full-time for the leader in Identity Theft Protection and has first-hand knowledge of what society needs to protect families and businesses from cyber-attacks and identity theft.

Categories: Online Security, Privacy

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