LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — As part of a class action lawsuit, several parents are suing the Clark County School District, claiming hackers stole their children’s personal information and leaked it online, making them vulnerable to identity theft.
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in Clark County District Court.
“Based on information available to CCSD, and in view of the known threat of recent cyber-attacks against school systems, this was an entirely foreseeable event that could and should have been prevented but was not,” the lawsuit states.
According to court documents, CCSD was previously hacked in August 2020. That hack affected approximately 44,000 people. The hackers allegedly accessed the district’s systems for an entire month as CCSD refused to pay a ransom.
In this recent incident, the lawsuit alleges that “CCSD refuses to fully disclose any details of the attack and what data were accessed and were available for third parties to exploit.”
CCSD notified the public on Oct. 16 that it experienced a “cybersecurity incident” on Oct. 5.
On Wednesday, the district released a statement saying, “We know that many families and staff are frustrated because of this incident, as are we, and we appreciate the patience being granted in this situation.”
The district has stated it is cooperating with the FBI to investigate the cyber breach.
The class action lawsuit identifies the group that initiated the cyber hack as SingularlyMD and claims that the hackers have stolen personal information for “over 200,000 people.”
That personal information includes student and employee records, medical information, social security numbers, and health insurance information, according to the lawsuit.
“Even more alarming, it appears the hacker group still has access to the District’s computer systems, creating an imminent risk of additional breach and disclosure of [personal information] belonging to the District’s employees, students, their families, and even past graduates from the District,” the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit also states personal information can “command up to $1,000 per individual record on the dark web.”
CCSD has not publicly identified the “cyber security incident” as a ransomware attack.
8 News Now contacted the district for comment, but CCSD has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
Sklar Williams law firm provided a statement to 8 News Now regarding its class action lawsuit.
“On behalf of our clients, and in acknowledgment of the recent statements and
representations of the Clark County School District (“CCSD”), we are dismayed by CCSD’s
continued failure to be transparent with the students, families, educators, and staff affected by the significant data breach and unauthorized access to some of their most private personal information, the repercussions of which may follow what could be hundreds of thousands of these individuals for years to come.
Despite knowing about this breach for almost a month, CCSD continues to fail to
adequately inform those affected, continues to characterize what we understand was and may still be an ongoing breach of its systems as a single “incident,” and continues to portray itself as an innocent victim rather than an accountable governmental body. While we acknowledge CCSD’s stated intention to secure its systems, its inaction to date creates little faith that CCSD has the leadership or accountability to address the damage already caused by its inability to protect the private information it collects and stores.
Therefore, on behalf of our clients and all others similarly situated, we have gone to court
to hold CCSD accountable. In the meantime, we suggest that CCSD explain to the true victims of this attack – CCSD’s students and their families, and its educators and staff – how hackers breached CCSD’s systems for weeks or more, why the safeguards it implemented, if any, following an attack on its systems in 2020 failed, what type of information was accessed and downloaded on our clients and all others similarly situated, how many individuals have been potentially affected, what actions are being taken now to safeguard the private information stored in CCSD’s possession, and, most importantly, what affected individuals can do to protect themselves.”
– Sklar Williams Law Offices
