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ATPE Data Breach Potentially Exposed Personal info of 426,280 Individuals

Image: Cybercrime - crime tape. Pixabay
Image: Pixabay

The Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) says — in recent filings made to various governmental regulators — that 426,280 individuals may have had their personal information leaked as a result of a data breach that occurred last February.

  • Note: Of the 426,280 persons potentially affected nationwide (that ATPE reported here), 414,515 (97 percent) are Texas residents (according to this Texas attorney general’s Data Security Breach Reports posting).

    ATPE is the state’s largest professional educator association.

“Suspicious Activities”
ATPE said it discovered “suspicious activities” on its network Feb. 12, 2024, and immediately disconnected all access to its network systems. An investigation conducted by a professional cybersecurity team concluded, on March 20, 2024, that the network had been accessed by an unauthorized person. The association posted a notice about the data breach to its members in April 2024, and finalized the list of individuals whose data was potentially exposed earlier this month.

The association added that the review of the incident is continuing, which has yet to uncover any misuse of private information, and that numerous steps have been taken regarding improving data security and protecting the privacy of its members.

The types of information that could have been exposed — which varies by the individual’s relationship with the association — included:

  • Names.
  • Addresses.
  • Dates of birth.
  • Social Security numbers.
  • Government issued ID numbers.
  • Passport information.
  • Financial information (banking, automated clearing house (ACH) info., etc.).
  • Credit/debit card numbers.
  • Medical information.

Free Credit Monitoring/Identity Theft Protection Services
ATPE is offering complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to all potentially impacted individuals.

More info:
https://www.atpe.org/data-notice

  • Also: At least one law firm (there could be more) has put out feelers asking those affected by the data breach if they would be interested in pursuing a class action lawsuit to force ATPE “to ensure it takes proper steps to protect the information it was entrusted with” and “to collect money for the harm you’ve suffered.”