St. Louis Community College employees compromise 5,000 students’ personal information due to phishing scam

Risk to Small Business: 2.111 = Severe: Several employees fell for a phishing scam that compromised students’ personal information. The phishing scam, which took place on January 13th, happened just weeks before the school implemented two-factor authentication on January 31st. If this effective defensive measure was in place sooner, hackers would not have been able to access employee accounts, even after they provided their credentials on a phishing form. In response, the college is retraining employees who clicked on a phishing email, and they are updating their procedures to prevent a similar event in the future.

Individual Risk: 2.428 = Severe: Students’ personal data was compromised in the breach, including names, ID numbers, dates of birth, addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses. In addition, 71 students had their Social Security numbers stolen. This information can be used to execute identity fraud or to target victims with spear phishing campaigns that could provide hackers with even more damaging personal data. Those impacted by the breach should enroll in credit and identity monitoring services to oversee the responsibility of identifying misuse, and they should carefully evaluate online communications for signs of a phishing scam.