The provincial government says it received notice that PowerSchool had experienced a cybersecurity incident on Tuesday.

PowerSchool is a third party which provides a platform used in the provincial K-12 education system, as well as many other jurisdictions.

The incident is not specific to Newfoundland and Labrador. PowerSchool notified customers in multiple jurisdictions in North America.

The province is working with the vendor to determine the extent of data accessed and number of individuals who may be involved. There has been no disruption to the daily operations of schools or classroom instruction.

PowerSchool has stated that they do not anticipate the data involved being shared or made public, and they believe it has been deleted without any further replication or dissemination. The company has indicated that the incident has been contained and they have increased security within their systems to prevent further incidents.

PowerSchool has stated that it does not expect any misuse of personal information or financial harm to impacted individuals as a result of this incident. They will be providing credit monitoring services to affected adults and identity protection services to affected minors in accordance with regulatory and contractual requirements. More information will be provided on these services and eligibility when available.  

Multiple government departments are involved to determine next steps, and the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has been notified. While the investigation is ongoing and information received from PowerSchool may change, the Provincial Government will provide further information as it becomes available. NTV’s Jodi Cooke will be covering the story and will have more this evening during the NTV Evening Newshour.