In the debut episode of our new CVE of the Week series, hosts John Barger and Lou Schmidt revisit one of the largest cybersecurity incidents involving children’s data in U.S. history: the PowerSchool breach. This shocking case saw over 60 million student records and 10 million teacher records compromised by a 19-year-old attacker using stolen contractor credentials—culminating in a $2.85 million Bitcoin ransom. The breach, its scope, and the inadequate security controls in place—including a lack of two-factor authentication—spark critical lessons for every IT professional.

John and Lou break down what went wrong, what we still don’t know, and what steps school districts and IT teams should take to protect sensitive data. From the importance of vendor security audits to practical recommendations for implementing multi-factor authentication and zero trust policies, this episode delivers actionable insight on securing your most vulnerable systems.

https://www.theverge.com/news/671713/powerschool-hack-guilty-plea-matthew-lane

📬 Got thoughts on this topic or our new format? Email us at [email protected] or hit us up on X (@itsparccast). Leave a comment if you’re watching on YouTube—we read and reply to nearly every one.

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