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● LIVE Updated 1h ago · 14 sources tracked

Hackers steal personal data of millions of California students in massive breach

Hackers compromised the personal data of millions of current and former California public school students in a massive cyber breach. The incident involved the Educational Testing Service, a company providing extensive services to California. Stolen records include student names, birthdates, home addresses, and disability records. Some of the compromised files date back to 2006. The California state education department confirmed the breach after an unauthorized actor utilized compromised login credentials during an attack in September.

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  • ✓ Hackers stole personal data including names, addresses, and disability records of millions of California public school students.
  • ✓ The data breach involved the Educational Testing Service, or ETS, which provides extensive services to California.
  • ✓ Some of the breached student records date back to 2006.
  • ✓ A cyber criminal used a compromised login credential to hack the testing company in September.
🛡️ Source Corroboration: 14 independent reporting domains (100% confidence) ⏱ Read time: ~2 min

What changed

State education officials and testing companies confirmed that a four-month security gap preceded the official family notifications.

Live updates

  1. Millions of California Student Records Exposed in Massive Breach

    Hackers compromised the personal data of millions of current and former California public school students in a massive cyber breach. The incident involved the Educational Testing Service, a company providing extensive services to California. Stolen records include student names, birthdates, home addresses, and disability records. Some of the compromised files date back to 2006. The California state education department confirmed the breach after an unauthorized actor utilized compromised login credentials during an attack in September.

    Why it matters

    The data breach affects millions of individuals who took mandated state standardized tests to assess academic proficiency. State authorities began notifying affected families starting October 16, 2026, following a four-month exposure window. Educational Testing Service handles critical testing infrastructure for the state, making the security failure a major vulnerability for public school privacy.

    What is confirmed

    • Hackers stole personal data including names, addresses, and disability records of millions of California public school students.
    • The data breach involved the Educational Testing Service, or ETS, which provides extensive services to California.
    • Some of the breached student records date back to 2006.
    • A cyber criminal used a compromised login credential to hack the testing company in September.
    • The state began notifying families about the exposure on October 16, 2026.

    Still unconfirmed

    • The exact total number of affected students has not been definitively finalized beyond millions of records.

    What to watch next

    • Further disclosures from the Educational Testing Service regarding the exact access vector.
    • Additional state guidance for families whose records dating back to 2006 were exposed.
    Sources used for this update (14)
    1. nypost.com — New York Post – Breaking News, Top Headlines, Photos & Videos
    2. www.latimes.com — U.S. stocks hover near their latest record in mixed trading on Wall Street
    3. www.theverge.com — Here’s Nintendo’s overview trailer for the Ocarina of Time remake.
    4. Los Angeles Times — Hackers steal personal data of millions of California students in massive breach
    5. Politico — Hack exposes data on millions of California students
    6. Buffalo News — US-NEWS-CALIF-STUDENTS-DATA-BREACH-FILEPIC-LA
    7. Cybernews — Millions of California student records breached, some dating back to 2006
    8. TradingView — Hacker gets data on millions of California students, state education department says
    9. www.metacurity.com — Trump appointees asked CISA to secretly hack a voting machine and not reveal the results, report - Metacurity
    10. www.edweek.org — Hackers Steal Personal Data of Millions of California Students in Massive Breach - Education Week
    11. www.arcamax.com — Hackers steal personal data of millions of California students in massive breach | News & Features | ArcaMax Publishing
    12. laist.com — Student data breach
    confidence 100%
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