Shoreline Community College notifies their community of exposure after ransomware attack

Shoreline Community College Library
Photo by Steven H. Robinson

On Friday, April 18, 2023, Shoreline Community College announced that it is notifying individuals whose information may have been involved in a recent cybersecurity incident.

On March 20, 2023, Shoreline Community College experienced a ransomware incident that affected its computer systems. 

Upon discovering this, the College promptly took action to secure the network, commenced an investigation, and a third-party cybersecurity firm was engaged to assist. 

The College began working with its in-house technical team, outside legal counsel, and the cybersecurity firm to determine what happened, the scope of data that was potentially accessed, and what steps can be taken to further protect its data.

During the course of the investigation, the College learned that some data was accessed by an unauthorized third party between February 27, 2023, and March 20, 2023. 

On April 5, 2023, the College confirmed that the documents involved contained certain information relating to some of our students, staff, and faculty, including their names and one or more of the following data elements: Social Security numbers, passport numbers, driver’s license numbers, dates of birth, financial account numbers, and/or attestations regarding COVID-19 test results.

While the College has no indication that any of this information has been misused, the College is notifying individuals whose information was potentially involved in this incident.

The College advises its students, staff, and faculty to remain vigilant for signs of unauthorized activity by reviewing their credit reports and financial account statements. 

If they see charges or activity they did not authorize, the College suggests they contact their financial institution immediately. The College is in the process of providing notice of this incident to individuals whose information may have been involved and is offering them a complimentary membership to Experian® IdentityWorks℠ Credit 3B credit monitoring service.

To help prevent something like this from happening in the future, the College is taking steps to enhance its existing network security including implementing multiple layers of protective measures and enhancing staff training related to handling of sensitive data.

The College takes seriously the security and privacy of the personal information entrusted to the College and regrets the inconvenience or concern this incident may cause its community. Additional information is available at the College website, https://www.shoreline.edu/about-shoreline/notice-of-data-breach.aspx or by calling (866) 347-9967, Monday through Friday, from 7:30am to 5:00pm Pacific Time.