{"id":1314191,"date":"2019-09-01T15:39:39","date_gmt":"2019-09-01T21:39:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.postindependent.com\/?p=986994"},"modified":"2019-09-01T15:39:39","modified_gmt":"2019-09-01T21:39:39","slug":"roaring-fork-schools-data-breach-response-seen-as-trial-run-should-bigger-incident-occur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kske\/local-news\/roaring-fork-schools-data-breach-response-seen-as-trial-run-should-bigger-incident-occur\/","title":{"rendered":"Roaring Fork Schools data breach response seen as trial run should bigger incident occur"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A recent breach involving student and staff information kept by a contract vendor for the Roaring Fork School District doesn\u2019t appear to have seriously compromised any of those involved.<\/p>\n

But it did serve as a trial run for the district\u2019s response system should a more serious incident occur, according to Jeff Gatlin, chief operating officer for the district.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate, but it\u2019s also a reality in this day and age,\u201d Gatlin told the school board when it met last week. \u201cIt\u2019s probably just the first of more things to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

The district was advised of the incident in July, after database contract provider Pearson turned up an unauthorized access into an older database platform that had occurred back in March.<\/p>\n

Gatlin said the database is used by the district\u2019s special education department to monitor student academic progress. It involved 119 students and 60 staff members.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was first and last names, primarily,\u201d he said. \u201cThere might have been some emails.\u201d<\/p>\n

Affected students and staff were informed of the breach via a letter sent on Aug. 13. It stated: \u201cNo social security numbers or financial information was accessed in the breach, only the first and last names. We take student confidentiality very seriously and wanted you to be aware of this situation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The breach impacted some 13,000 schools and university student accounts globally, according to Pearson\u2019s letter to Roaring Fork School District officials.<\/p>\n

The software platform, Aimsweb 1.0, is no longer used, as Pearson and the district have begun using a newer Aimsweb platform. However, information still exists on the old platform and is used for reference, Gatlin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were fortunate in this instance that the number of students impacted was relatively low,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Still, the incident triggered a formal response that is dictated by district policy whenever such database breaches occur. That includes a public hearing before the school board to determine if the district should continue with the contractor.<\/p>\n

The policy states, in part:<\/p>\n