Personal information belonging to some Highline Public Schools students and employees was involved in a cybersecurity incident at Frontline, a company the district uses for hiring and professional development, the district announced Friday, Oct. 23.
Information accessed may include Social Security numbers, home addresses and dates of birth, according to information Frontline provided to the district. The specific information involved varies by person, and not every student or employee is affected.
The incident occurred within Frontline’s systems and does not affect Highline’s internal networks, email or digital systems, the district said.
Beginning Monday, Oct. 26, Frontline will notify affected employees and the parents or legal guardians of affected students by email or U.S. mail. Each notice will identify the information involved and explain how to enroll in two years of free credit monitoring and identity theft protection through TransUnion.
According to Frontline, its security team identified a weakness in a third party software product on Aug. 14 that allowed unauthorized access to part of the company’s systems.
Frontline told the district it investigated with outside cybersecurity experts, fixed the weakness, contacted law enforcement and strengthened its security protections. The company said it is not aware of any misuse of the data resulting from the incident.
Highline advised families and employees to watch for notification emails from frontline@notifications.cyberscout.com and check their spam or junk folders.
The district also urged caution about unexpected emails, texts or calls referencing Frontline, TransUnion, Highline, a school or a bank and asking for personal information or login credentials. When a message seems suspicious, the district recommends using a known website or phone number to verify it rather than following links or calling numbers in the message.
Other precautions recommended by the district include using different passwords for different accounts, enabling multifactor authentication where available and watching financial and credit accounts for unusual activity. Families can also request free credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com and consider a fraud alert or security freeze with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
Anyone who believes they or their student may be affected but does not receive a notice can contact Frontline’s dedicated call center at 833-516-8792. The line is open Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time, excluding major holidays.
“We are reviewing Frontline’s information and working with the company on notices to affected families and employees,” Highline said in its announcement. “We will share more information as we learn more.”
