Florida aid website breach may affect 4.9 million people

The Florida Department of Education says a breach of its Florida Student Financial Aid website may have exposed personal information for up to 4.9 million people, including Social Security numbers. The department reports that staff detected unauthorised criminal access on 19 October and activated its cybersecurity response protocols, stopping the activity and securing its systems.

The incident response is being led in collaboration with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Digital Service, with the department stating that the breach appears limited to the financial aid website. The department notes that current financial aid processes, tuition payments and eligibility for scholarships, grants or student loans will not be affected.

CBS12 reported on the breach and the department’s notice, which the department links to as its official data breach notice. The department emphasises that the compromised data is associated with the Florida Student Financial Aid website, not broader Florida Department of Education systems. The agencies involved are working together as part of the response, and the department maintains that multiple other services and programmes remain unaffected while the investigation continues.

The article does not indicate evidence of exploitation beyond the unauthorised access on the financial aid site or provide further particulars on the type of data accessed.