A ransomware assault targeting retirement service firm Carruth Compliance Consulting has resulted in a data breach affecting dozens of school districts and thousands of individuals in the US. Carruth Compliance Consulting (CCC) administers retirement savings accounts for public schools and non-profit organisations.
Carruth announced on its website on January 13, 2025, that it had detected suspicious activity on its computer systems on December 21, 2024. An investigation revealed that hackers gained access to company networks between December 19 and December 26, and stole some files.
The company claims that private information such as name, Social Security number, financial account information, and, in specific circumstances, driver's license numbers, medical billing information, W-2 information, and tax filings were among the hacked files. Free identity restoration and credit monitoring services are being provided to affected consumers.
A relatively new ransomware organisation called Skira claimed responsibility for the Carruth attack this week, claiming to have taken about 469 gigabytes of data, including databases, source code, and the data the company had included in their customer notification. Only four additional victims are listed on Skira's Tor-based leak website as of this writing; the first victim was revealed in December 2024.
While Carruth has not disclosed the number of impacted organisations and individuals, dozens of school districts and institutions across multiple states have confirmed in recent weeks that they have been affected by the cybersecurity issue. School districts notified state attorneys general that Carruth was unable to identify affected individuals, and each educational institution is seeking to identify current and former employees whose personal information was provided with the retirement services provider.
To date, nine school districts in Maine have reported identifying more than 20,000 individuals affected by a data breach, as mandated by the attorney general. The Carruth data breach comes just weeks after it was revealed that hackers may have stolen the personal information of millions of students and instructors in the United States and Canada after a cyberattack on education software and services company PowerSchool.
