(TNS) — A computer company owner said Friday that an auction house sold him a San Benito School District computer containing personal data on employees and students.
David Avila, co-owner of Brownsville-based RDA Technologies, said at least 11 district computers after his company purchased about 700 district computers at a July 23 South Texas Auction Co. auction. computer hard drives containing district data, including the names of employees and students. , phone numbers, addresses, student grades, and some bank account information.
Avila said information from the auction shows that the auction company sold more computers to other buyers.
On Thursday, South Texas Auctions declined to disclose whether other buyers have purchased the district’s computers.
“They sold it to some buyers,” Avila said in an interview. “Where are the rest of the computers?”
Avila said the law requires that “confidential information” be removed from computers before they are sold.
“Legally, it’s their job to wipe out or destroy hard drives,” he said.
On Oct. 19, his company notified district authorities that it had found personal information on the hard drives of some computers, Avila said, giving victims of sensitive information a notice within 60 days. He added that he was required by law to do so.
“We have notified them to take appropriate action,” he said. “It’s their duty to inform people.”
‘Confidential information’
On Dec. 7, the school district posted a statement on its website that it “may have included the district’s historical data regarding the erroneous sale of San Benito CISD computer devices to an electronics recycler.” Did.
“Based on representations made by RDA Technologies regarding information purportedly contained in devices purchased by the company, they did not contain social security numbers or other sensitive personal information,” District said. rice field.
But Avila said his company found what it called “classified information” on 11 computers, one of which was destroyed and 10 put in “quarantine.”
Avila said the company did not inspect the other 503 district computers it purchased through the auction house.
“There is classified information and I have this hard drive,” he said.
Avila said on October 28, Todd English, the district’s technology director, who is currently on paid leave, inspected the computers in the company’s office.
On Friday, the Valley Morning Star scanned Avila’s computer and found the teacher’s bank account number. Part of the teacher’s bank account number. Teacher list with name, username and email. Student name, identification number and grades. A failed list of students, including their names. Immigration student list including name, student identification number and grade. Her IP and her MAC number to local copiers and printers.
Meanwhile, Avila said district officials offered him $138,619 to buy the computer he bought for about $29,000, which the district officials denied in a statement.
Avila said she declined the offer.
Avila added that the school district rejected an offer to sign a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for $27,525, said she had filed a report with the Texas Attorney General’s Office, and said she had purchased the school district’s computers containing classified information. rice field.
School district officials posted the December 7 statement on their website. district data. ”
“We recently learned that RDA Technologies, a local electronics recycler, purchased devices from the district that may have inadvertently included data collected in the course of their normal business,” said the district. has said.
no proof’
On Thursday, district officials said they had not received “evidence” that the computer contained classified information.
“The RDA has made unsubstantiated claims that the devices contained sensitive data, but to date, the school district has received no evidence or credible indication that sensitive student or employee information was on the devices. “Based on statements made by RDA Technologies regarding the information purportedly found on the device, social security numbers and other sensitive personal information were not included,” said school district spokeswoman Isabel Gonzalez. It doesn’t look like it was included.”
“Additionally, the school district has not received any other reports regarding the device containing historical data,” she said. “While the district was able to conduct a brief review of the equipment purchased by the RDA, the inspection did not reveal any confidential information. However, the RDA did not cooperate with any of the district’s proposed solutions. We have reported it to the Department of Human Rights Protection. To prevent this from happening again, the district is reviewing its procedures for device disposal and will increase staff training on these procedures.”
Background
Meanwhile, Cameron County District Attorney Luis Senz said he was investigating the cyber-extortion hacking group Karakurt’s breach of the district’s tech systems, trying to determine if former employees and students were also victims. He added that it was
On Friday, Gonzalez said the school district mailed 21,653 letters to individuals on Dec. 30. Among them, he included 12,080 “minors” who were identified as affected by the breach discovered around November 1st.
“Karakurt attackers claim to have stolen data and threaten to auction or release data unless demanded ransom payment is received,” FBI and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency says on the website. “Known ransom demands range from $25,000 in Bitcoins to $13 million in Bitcoins, and payment deadlines are typically set to expire within a week of his first contact with the victim. It has been.”
Last month, Sylvia Wood, a spokeswoman for the Texas School Board Association, declined to comment on whether the agency tried to negotiate with the hackers on behalf of the school district to stop them from distributing classified information about the school district.
Valley Morning Star has filed a request under the Texas Public Information Act for information regarding its negotiations with Karakurt.
©2023 Valley Morning Star, Harlingen, TX. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
