Heather Vidrine, a teacher from St. Landry Parish, was initially unfazed when news of a cyberattack struck her former school district in early August. However, her perspective shifted after her Facebook account was compromised, sparking concerns about a potential link between the incidents.
Records obtained by The Acadiana Advocate and The 74, a nonprofit focusing on educational reporting, reveal that Vidrine’s Social Security number and personal data were compromised in a ransomware attack targeting the St. Landry Parish School Board, her former employer.
Initially downplayed by the district in August, claiming no sensitive data on their hacked servers, a recent analysis of the publicly released files following the attack contradicts this assertion.
The exposed data encompasses a trove of sensitive information, comprising thousands of health insurance records interlaced with Social Security numbers, approximately 100,000 sales tax records spanning local and out-of-state companies, and thousands of student records, divulging their home addresses and special education status.
