An unprecedented and coordinated worldwide cyberattack on part of the Kentucky Department of Education Infinite Campus, known to parents as the Parent Portal, targeted select small to medium-size districts in Eastern Kentucky this week.  According to the Kentucky School Board Association, no student data was touched and portions of the Kentucky DOE website has been down.

State Longitudinal Data Banks, a requirement of the Race to the Top grant and necessary for the adoption of Common Core Standards, are now asking for over 1,000 points of data on each student and their family.   Yesterday, Cecile Ferkul, deputy legislative auditor with the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor, stated that the data systems in Minnesota are not secure.  Ferkul believes the systems need “significant system renovation” and should not proceed uploading these huge amounts of data until the systems are secure.   Families should Opt-Out of sharing any information beyond address, phone number, work phone, e-mail, ie. the basics needed for good communication.  In our present drive for prenatal to workforce data collection, parent portals may be sitting ducks.

http://www.ksba.org/protected/ArticleView.aspx?iid=6GP0A3Y&dasi=3UBI,