TDA Security Breach

TDA Security Breach

The purpose of this notification is to share information that the Texas Department of Agriculture has reported a security breach involving student information that may include Central ISD students.

The following statement is from the TDA website: On October 26, 2017, a Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) employee’s state issued laptop computer was compromised through a malicious ransomware attack. As a result, some students in school districts throughout Texas may have been potentially impacted by the breach. The information exposed on the employee's laptop included names, social security numbers, home addresses, birthdates, and personal phone numbers of the affected students and their families. To date, TDA's Information Security Officer (ISO) has identified more than 700 students whose sensitive personal information was, or is reasonably believed to have been, exposed to acquisition by an unauthorized person. It is important to note that, to date, TDA’s ISO has not discovered any evidence to suggest misuse of the information that was compromised by the ransomware exploit. TDA recognizes the implications of this breach and continually evaluates agency processes and protocols to reduce future occurrences.

Fraud Alert Tip: TDA recommends the affected students, or parents of the affected minor students, contact the three major credit bureaus and activate a free fraud alert on behalf of the students impacted by data breach.

https://www.experian.com/fraud/center.html https://www.transunion.com/fraud-victim-resource/place-fraud-alert https://www.alerts.equifax.com/AutoFraud_Online/jsp/fraudAlert.jsp

Please know that the 700 students mentioned in the statement by the TDA have not been identified as Central ISD students. The student information that was potentially exposed included 39 districts. If you have any further questions, please call TDA at  (512) 463-4075 or (800) 835-5832.