A recent audit has revealed that the Maryland Department of Education “inappropriately” stored personal information of more than 1.4 million students and more than 230,000 teachers. The report published by the Maryland General Assembly’s audit office last week found that the education department stored personally identifiable information in databases and applications in plaintext format, leaving it more susceptible to interception by bad actors. The audit also found that the department had not instated “sufficient” malware protection, nor did it ensure that critical systems managed by third parties were protected against security risks. “Specifically, we found critical servers running on outdated and no longer supported operating systems and a number of computers had not been updated with the latest releases for software products that were known to have significant security-related vulnerabilities,” the report states. The audit found some of the department’s software hasn’t been updated since 2008. The state’s Education Department, … Continue reading 1.4 million student Social Security numbers found unencrypted in Maryland