PowerSchool Data Breach Incident – How to Prevent It

December 8, 2025 By Nancy William No Comments 6 minutes

dneeWhat was the PowerSchool data breach? How did it occur, and what was the impact of sensitive data loss? This article covers everything to know about the incident and ways to prevent it from happening in the future.

TIP – schools, institutes, and even homes need to always be aware of the countless ways a cyberattack can take place. Along with education on the matter, inculcating the use of security software is what is needed. Among the best security measures is using the best VPN. It helps secure large amounts of sensitive data by securing your connection, preventing data leaks, and more.

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About the PowerSchool Data Breach Affecting K-12 Schools

Before getting to the attack, let’s give you a little information on the affected. PowerSchool is a leading provider of educational technology solutions designed specifically for K-12 schools and districts. Their main offering to their customer base of 16,000+ is a comprehensive student information system (SIS) that serves as a central hub for academic data.

Through this platform, teachers, students, and parents can securely access real-time information about grades, attendance records, and class schedules via web browsers or mobile applications.

Beyond this core SIS functionality, PowerSchool delivers an extensive suite of additional software tools that help educational institutions manage diverse operations, including financial planning, data analytics, personalized learning pathways, and student behavior-tracking systems.

Now, imagine that PowerSchool manages a large fraction of educational institute data, and it gets compromised.

The PowerSchool Data Breach Incident

A cybersecurity incident at PowerSchool, the dominant provider of student information systems for U.S. schools, may have compromised the personal data of millions of students and educators. The educational technology company, whose platforms serve 50 million students through 16,000 institutional customers, began notifying affected schools this week about the December 28th, 2024, security breach.

This incident represents another significant cybersecurity event targeting K-12 education institutions, which have become frequent victims of digital attacks due to their often vulnerable technological infrastructure.

According to documentation shared with a Georgia school district and subsequently made public, unauthorized actors accessed customer data within PowerSchool’s student information system. These systems typically contain comprehensive records, including student demographics, academic performance, attendance history, and staff employment details that contain certification and compensation information.

In its official communication, PowerSchool assured recipients that law enforcement has been inculcated and that investigators have found no evidence of malicious software or ongoing unauthorized access.

The company expressed confidence that the compromised information would not be disseminated publicly. In their address, they said: “We’re addressing this situation methodically and completely, and remain dedicated to supporting affected institutions throughout this process.”

Representatives from PowerSchool were unavailable for immediate comment when they were asked about the breach.

How Did the PowerSchool Data Breach Occur?

Here are some clues on how the attack took place:

Stolen Credentials

The security incident started when hackers stole and used login credentials to gain access to the PowerSource customer support portal of PowerSchool. The specific method by which these credentials were acquired remains under investigation, though the theft of such access details is a frequently employed tactic in cyber intrusions. Potential techniques for credential compromise include phishing campaigns and social engineering tactics, among other possibilities.

Breaking Access

The compromised PowerSource customer support portal housed a maintenance utility used by PowerSchool’s engineering team to access customer Student Information System (SIS) instances for technical support and performance troubleshooting. Based on the CrowdStrike investigation, between December 19 and December 28, 2024, the attacker deliberately executed “Maintenance Remote Support operations” within PowerSource. When this happened, its actions specifically enabled access into individual customer organizations’ SIS environments.

Data Exfiltration

Once the hackers made it inside the system, they got their hands on the customer support tool for exporting data management. They used it to extract all of the information logged about PowerSchool SIS students and teachers.

When Did the PowerSchool Data Breach Attack Happen?

In late December 2024, PowerSchool suffered a significant data breach. The company discovered the incident on December 28th after being directly contacted by the attackers. After conducting Investigations, it was revealed that unauthorized individuals had accessed student and staff data for several days. This incident occurred from approximately December 19th to the 28th and involved exploiting a customer support system called PowerSource to steal personal information.

What Kind of Data Was Breached?

There were some court documents that were published on the 20th of May, 2025. It stated that the PowerSchool data breach hit the personal information of more than 62 million people. The data that was stolen from students, educators, and parents included:

Medical information
Names
Phone numbers
Birthday dates
Home addresses
Email addresses
Academic records
Social security numbers
Payment card information

What Should Schools Do to Prevent Cyberattacks?

Given incidents like the PowerSchool data breach, schools need to implement several precautionary measures. This is especially important for preserving and protecting any sensitive records of school, student, faculty, and parent data. Here are the best security practices:

Require strong logins: ensure everyone uses complex passwords and turns on two-factor authentication. This is needed for extra layers of security, particularly for systems with sensitive data.
Lock down your networks: protect your internet connection with a firewall. You need to use strong encryption and create a separate guest Wi-Fi network to keep your main system secure.
Device protection: regularly update the software on all computers, tablets, and other devices. Install and maintain reliable antivirus protection on every machine.
Secure your data: encrypt any sensitive information. You also should automatically back it up to a secure, off-site location on a regular schedule.
Build a culture of awareness: run ongoing training sessions for everyone to help them spot sneaky phishing emails and other common online tricks.
Practice with realistic tests: send out safe, simulated phishing emails so staff and students can safely learn how to identify and report the real thing.
Teach the digital basics: ensure everyone knows the fundamentals, like how to create a strong password, steer clear of suspicious links and downloads, and browse the web safely.
Have a game plan ready: create a clear guide that explains exactly what to do if you experience a cyberattack, covering preparation, response, and recovery.
Build your defense team: designate a specific group of IT staff who are trained and ready to spring into action to manage security breaches.
Check vulnerabilities regularly: don’t wait for a problem to find you. Schedule frequent security check-ups and simulated attacks to proactively find and fix vulnerabilities in your systems.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who was behind the PowerSchool data breach attack?

The attack was carried out by one 19-year-old college student, Matthew Lane.

How did the PowerSchool data breach happen?

This data breach started with compromised credentials belonging to one employee. This gave the hacker full unauthorized access to the PowerSchool portal.

Is the PowerSchool cybersecurity incident legit?

Yes, it is legitimate, and took place in December 2024, exposing the data of millions of students and faculty.

Am I entitled to compensation from the school if my data is breached?

Yes, you are entitled to it. However, you need to have solid proof of being the victim of identity theft, data loss, financial loss, etc., after the attack.

How much money was lost with the PowerSchool data breach?

There was no such information available on how much money was lost in damages, but there was a ransom paid by PowerSchool to ensure that their customers’ data was protected.

Did the PowerSchool data breach student records?

Yes, a wide variety of personal information was compromised. This includes addresses, contact numbers, medical information, etc.

To Conclude

And that’s all. You now know everything about the PowerSchool data breach cyberattacks and how many schools were affected. We’ve mentioned the kind of data compromized, and solutions to prevent cyberattacks. Apart from that, institutes should use VPN and anti-virus software to secure connections.