Concord School District Reports 'Data Security Breach'

CONCORD, NH - The Concord School District reported on June 3, 2016, that it has been hit with a "Data Security Breach" in two months ago that compromised the W-2 forms of everyone receiving payment from the school in 2015, according to a press statement.

The "social engineering attack" hit the district on April 7, 2016, according to School Superintendent Terri Forsten. The district found out about the attack on June 1. Forsten sent a letter to everyone who had received a W-2 form for 2015 to let them know about the attack.

District employees forms "were compromised, including Employee Number - Location ID, Name, Address, City, State, Zip Code, Social Security Number, Federal Income Tax (FIT), FICA, Box 14 (X,Y), Medicare, Employee and Employer Total Cost of Health, 403b Contribution Amount, 403b Roth Contribution Amount, 457 Contribution Amount, 457 Roth Contribution Amount and Dependent Care," according to the press statement.

"This was a sophisticated scam in which the attacker masqueraded as the Superintendent requesting the information," Forsten stated. "It appears that the compromised information was used in early April to file fraudulent tax returns for some of our employees. Our network and email systems were not compromised."

In the letter, Forsten recommended that people consider taking three actions at this time –

•  Contact your personal banking institution(s) to make them aware of this breach;
•  Register for a fraud alert;
•  Contact institutions that hold any personal assets to make them aware of this breach.

"The school district understands the seriousness of this information and worked with several experts to create resources for our staff," according to Forsten.

In the letter, Forsten also apologized for the attack and offered reassurance that the school district took privacy and security "very seriously," according to the statement.