South Suburban College in Illinois this week confirmed it notified 96,012 people about a November 2023 data breach that compromised names, Social Security numbers, addresses, and dates of birth.

SSC says this was a ransomware attack, but no cybercriminal group claimed responsibility for the breach as of time of writing.

The College’s notice to students states, “On or around November 8, 2023, SSC detected that it was the target of a cybersecurity attack, in which an
unauthorized third party attempted to infiltrate SSC’s network and demand a ransom payment.”

We don’t yet know whether SSC paid a ransom or how much was demanded, nor how attackers breached the school’s network.

We recommend victims take advantage of the free credit monitoring and identity theft protection offered by SSC via TransUnion.

Ransomware attacks on US education

In addition to data theft, ransomware attacks on schools and colleges can force institutions to cancel classes, delay applications, disrupt billing and payments, cripple grading and attendance systems, and shut down websites, email, and even phone lines.

Ransomware attacks encrypt and/or steal the target’s data, then demand a ransom payment to restore systems and delete stolen data.

In 2023, Comparitech researchers logged 114 attacks on US schools and colleges. These attacks affected 2,661,430 records. This attack on SSC is the tenth-largest based on the number of records affected.

The largest was on Shoreline Community College, which affected at least 400,000 records. The College ended up paying a $228,000 ransom to Royal.

The average ransom in 2023 on the US education sector was just under $450,000.

The frequency of attacks on US schools and colleges dipped this year: 29 attacks so far in 2024, affecting 24,054 records. We recorded a further 50 unconfirmed attacks so far this year.

Florida Memorial University also began issuing data breach notifications (PDF) this week after its March 2024 cyber attack, which was claimed by INC.

About South Suburban College

South Suburban College is a public community college in South Holland, Illinois, with a second campus in Oak Forest, Illinois. In 2023, 7,210 students enrolled there, according to the school’s website.

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