Colorado Dept. of Higher Education reports potentially massive data breach
DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) -- The Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) reported what it is calling a "cybersecurity incident" that may affect a large number of students and educators dating back as far as 2004.
The CDHE said it became aware of the data breach on June 19, 2023, and has since been working with a third-party specialist to thoroughly investigate the incident and restore systems to normal operations. The breach involved an "unauthorized actor(s)" that accessed the CDHE system between June 11 and June 19, 2023, and copied certain data from the system.
According to the CDHE, data that was accessed included names, social security numbers, student identification numbers, and other education records. Once the review of the impacted records is complete, the department said it will be notifying anyone who could be impacted and that they have contact information for.
Until the investigation is complete, those who might be impacted by the breach, according to the CDHE, include those that attended a public institution of higher education in Colorado between 2007-2020, attended a Colorado public high school between 2004-2020, individuals with a Colorado K-12 public school educator license between 2010-2014, participated in the Dependent Tuition Assistance Program from 2009-2013, participated in Colorado Department of Education’s Adult Education Initiatives programs between 2013-2017, or obtained a GED between 2007-2011.
For more information about this incident, contact the CDHE hotline at (833) 301-1346 between 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mountain Time, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mountain Time, Saturday and Sunday.
