Tipp City student records exposed during law firm data breach

CONTRIBUTED.

CONTRIBUTED.

TIPP CITY - Some Tipp City Exempted Village Schools parents received a letter in the mail Thursday about a data breach in January at a law firm used by the district.

Superintendent Mark Stefanik said Thursday the district first was notified of the breach at the Bricker and Eckler law firm in early February and was told that a cyber law partner had been hired to examine the contents of records involved.

Information in the records affected included student names, grades, grade point averages, attendance data, prior classes attended and some official school photographs. Among information not provided to the law firm by the district was student health information, discipline records, and credit card and bank account information, he said.

The law firm had been asked to review employee emails and other school district records, the district said in a posting Thursday evening on its web site.

“The law firm has informed us that the firm was able to retrieve the data involved from the unauthorized party and has taken steps to delete the data. At this time, the law firm has no reason to believe this data was copied or retained by the unauthorized party. The firm has informed us that they have found no evidence of misuse of the data. To help prevent a similar type of incident from occurring in the future, the firm has implemented additional security protocols designed to enhance the security of the firm’s network, internal systems and applications,” Stefanik said.

He could not say how many students’ information was included in the data.

The receipt of the letter by parents “raised some anxieties and some emotions,” Stefanik said. Those with additional questions were referred to staff at Norton Rose Fulbright, the firm that investigated the incident.

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