Ransomware criminals are dumping kids' private files online after school hacks
Ransomware gangs have been stealing confidential documents from schools and dumping them online
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Ransomware gangs have been stealing confidential documents from schools and dumping them online
Rich in digitized data, the nation's schools are prime targets for far-flung criminal hackers, who are assiduously locating and scooping up sensitive files.
The details include allegations of sexual assault, truancy records and notes about abusive parents, all exposed after hackers stole data from school districts.
Ransomware: Complete sexual assault case folios containing these details were among more than 300,000 files dumped online in March after the 36,000-student Minneapolis Public Schools refused to pay a $1 million ransom. Other exposed data included medical records, discrimination complaints, Social Security numbers and contact information of district employees.
The confidential documents stolen from schools and dumped online by ransomware gangs are raw, intimate and graphic.