PowerSchool Cybersecurity Incident FAQs - Revised
Example Of PowerSchool Email (Cybersecurity Incident)
Steps You Can Take To Help Protect Personal Information
Notice to Previous Staff and Students: May 30, 2025
Dear Portage la Prairie School Division Community,
As you may know, PowerSchool, a provider of Student Information Systems (SIS), recently experienced a cybersecurity incident. Like many school institutions across North America, we use PowerSchool for our SIS and thus were informed by PowerSchool that information stored by the Portage la Prairie School Division(PLPSD) in our SIS was involved in the incident. This includes personal information of students, parents/guardians, and educators. We have written to our community about this incident many times previously. You can view this communication on the PLPSD website. This is intended for those who have not seen our previous communications. If you have seen our previous communications, you do not need to read this.
PowerSchool has sent emails to students, parents/guardians, and educators whose information was involved in the incident. We understand from PowerSchool that the email was sent from one of the following similar email addresses: ps-sis-incident@mail.csid.com; ps-sisincident@mail1.csid.com; or ps-sis-incident@mail2.csid.com. If you received an email from any one of these email addresses with the subject line “PowerSchool Cybersecurity Incident”, we have been assured by PowerSchool that it is a legitimate email. The email includes information on how to activate 2 years of identity protection and/or credit monitoring services, as offered. Please click “Example of PowerSchool email” to see an example of what the email from PowerSchool looks like, although there may be differences between it and the one you received.
Whether or not you received the email from PowerSchool, you may also visit PowerSchool’s website to learn how to activate the identity protection and/or credit monitoring services. For those able to utilize credit monitoring services (anyone age 18 and over), you will be prompted to validate before activating by entering your name and date of birth. Anyone, including those under 18, can utilize the identity protection services. PowerSchool has advised that you can call 833-918-7884 if you have any questions.
Please review the email from PowerSchool carefully. It includes details about the incident and the information identified by PowerSchool as involved. In the email, PowerSchool explains that, on December 28, 2024, it became aware that it experienced a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to and exfiltration (acquisition) of certain personal information from
PowerSchool SIS environments. This occurred between around December 19 and December 28, 2024. PowerSchool also advised us that it has taken steps to try to prevent the information involved from further unauthorized access or misuse.
You will see that PowerSchool includes in the email a description of some of the information that was potentially involved in the incident. The information involved varies by person.
For students, the information involved will generally be limited to information parents/guardians provided to the Portage la Prairie School Division upon registration of their child as a student or any subsequent updates to that information. For many students, the information involved was name, date of birth, gender, phone number, address, doctor’s name and phone number, MET number, school ID number, and/or enrolment/registration records, as well as the parent/guardian’s name and contact information. For a small number of students, there was also relevant medical information (e.g., allergies) and/or relevant alerts (e.g., related to discipline, guardian, custody, or other issues).
For staff, the information involved was name, school contact information, and/or school ID number.
The email from PowerSchool also refers to Social Insurance Number (SIN) as potentially involved, but should also include a statement if there is no evidence that your SIN was involved – please review the email carefully. Based on our own investigation of the information stored in our SIS, no parent/guardian, staff, or student SIN, banking, or credit card information was stored in our SIS and thus such information was NOT involved in the incident – the email from PowerSchool should thus say there is no evidence your SIN was involved. PowerSchool has nevertheless offered identity protection and/or credit monitoring to all individuals with any information involved. We encourage you to sign up for the services offered by PowerSchool.
When we learned of the incident, we conducted an investigation with the assistance of experts and worked diligently to request details from PowerSchool. We also worked with other school divisions in Manitoba that are similarly impacted. We have been assured by PowerSchool that the incident has been contained. We took steps to confirm there was no ongoing threat and to reduce the risk of a similar future threat, including by confirming that PowerSchool: engaged its cybersecurity response protocols, engaged a cybersecurity expert to conduct a forensic investigation, deactivated a compromised account, conducted a full password reset, initiated enhanced processes for access, further strengthened password policies and controls, and notified law enforcement. We have also informed the Manitoba Ombudsman of the incident and have included additional information you can review by clicking “Steps You Can Take to Help Protect Personal Information.”
Please find answers to some questions you may have by clicking here: FAQs May 5. If you have any additional questions, they can be directed to portagesd@plpsd.net.
In the Portage la Prairie School Division, we take cybersecurity and information protection seriously. We sincerely regret that this incident occurred and thank you for your understanding.
Sincerely,
Pamela Garnham
Superintendent/CEO/Secretary-Treasurer
Portage la Prairie School Division
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Update #6: May 5, 2025
Dear Portage la Prairie School Division Families and Staff,
We are writing with an update on the PowerSchool cybersecurity incident. In our previous updates about the incident, which were emailed to you and can be found on our website, we mentioned that PowerSchool would be sending emails to students, parents/guardians, and educators whose information was involved in the incident. We understand that Portage la Prairie School Division community members have now received this email from PowerSchool, and others may receive it in the coming days.
We have learned from PowerSchool that the email was or will be sent from one of the following similar email addresses: ps-sis-incident@mail.csid.com; ps-sis-incident@mail1.csid.com; or ps-sisincident@mail2.csid.com. If you receive or have received an email from any one of these email addresses with the subject line “PowerSchool Cybersecurity Incident”, we have been assured by PowerSchool that it is a legitimate email. The email includes information about how to activate the two years of identity protection and/or credit monitoring services offered. Please find attached an example of what the email from PowerSchool looks like, although there may be differences between it and the one you receive.
Whether or not you received the email from PowerSchool, you may also visit PowerSchool’s website to learn how to activate the identity protection and/or credit monitoring services. For those able to utilize credit monitoring services (anyone age 18 and over), you will be prompted to validate before activating by entering your name and date of birth. Anyone, including those under 18, can utilize the identity protection services. PowerSchool has advised that you can call 833-918-7884 if you have any questions.
Please review the email from PowerSchool carefully. It includes details about the incident and the
information identified by PowerSchool as involved. In the email, PowerSchool explains that, on
December 28, 2024, it became aware that it experienced a cybersecurity incident involving
unauthorized access to and exfiltration (acquisition) of certain personal information from PowerSchool Student Information System (SIS) environments. This occurred around December 19 and December 28, 2024. PowerSchool also advised us that it has taken steps to prevent the information involved from further unauthorized access or misuse, that it does not anticipate the information being shared or made public, and that it believes the information has been deleted without any further replication or dissemination. Like many school institutions across North America, we use PowerSchool for our SIS and thus were informed by PowerSchool that information stored by Portage la Prairie School Division in our SIS was involved in the incident.
You will see that PowerSchool includes in the email a description of some of the information that was potentially involved in the incident. The information involved varies by person.
For students, the information involved will generally be limited to information parents/guardians
provided to Portage la Prairie School Division upon registration of their child as a student or any
subsequent updates to that information. For many students, the information involved was name, date of birth, gender, phone number, address, doctor’s name and phone number, MET number, school ID number, and/or enrolment/registration records, as well as the parent/guardian’s name and contact information. For a small number of students, there was also relevant medical information (e.g., allergies) and/or relevant alerts (e.g., related to discipline, guardian, custody, or other issues).
For staff, the information involved was name, school contact information, and/or school ID number.
The email from PowerSchool also refers to Social Insurance Number (SIN) as potentially involved.
Please review the email carefully. As we mentioned previously, based on our own investigation of the information stored in our SIS, no parent/guardian, staff, or student SIN, banking, or credit card information was stored in our SIS and thus such information was NOT involved in the incident – the email from PowerSchool should thus say there is no evidence your SIN was involved. PowerSchool has nevertheless offered optional identity protection and/or credit monitoring to all individuals with any information involved. We encourage you to consider signing up for the services offered by PowerSchool.
When we learned of the incident, we conducted an investigation with the assistance of experts and worked diligently to request details from PowerSchool. We also worked with other school divisions in Manitoba that were similarly impacted. We have been assured by PowerSchool that the incident has been contained. We took steps to confirm there was no ongoing threat and to reduce the risk of a similar future threat, including by confirming that PowerSchool: engaged its cybersecurity response protocols, engaged a cybersecurity expert to conduct a forensic investigation, deactivated a compromised account, conducted a full password reset, initiated enhanced processes for access, further strengthened password policies and controls, and notified law enforcement. We have also informed the Manitoba Ombudsman of the incident and have attached additional information about steps you can take to help protect personal information.
I am attaching answers to some questions you may have. If you have any additional questions, they can be directed to portagesd@plpsd.net.
The Portage la Prairie School Division takes cybersecurity and protecting information seriously. We sincerely regret this incident and thank you for your continued understanding.
Sincerely,
Pamela Garnham
Superintendent/Secretary-Treasurer/CEO
Portage la Prairie School Division
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Update #5: May 2, 2025
Dear Families and Staff of the Portage la Prairie School Division,
We are writing to provide a further update about the cybersecurity incident that PowerSchool,
our student information system (SIS) provider, recently experienced.
In our previous updates about the PowerSchool cybersecurity incident, we mentioned that
PowerSchool would be sending emails to students, parents/guardians, and educators whose
information was involved in the incident it previously experienced. We are aware that
PowerSchool has now begun sending out notices to students and parents/guardians. You may
shortly receive this notice, or you may have already received it.
We understand from PowerSchool that the email was or will be sent from one of the following
similar email addresses: ps-sis-incident@mail.csid.com, ps-sis-incident@mail1.csid.com, or pssis-
incident@mail2.csid.com. If you receive or have previously received an email from any
of these addresses with the subject line “PowerSchool Cybersecurity Incident,” we have
been assured by PowerSchool that it is a legitimate email.
As mentioned previously, PowerSchool has also advised that you call 833-918-7884 if you have
any questions. Information can also be found on PowerSchool's
website: https://www.powerschool.com/security/sis-incident/.
We will also be sending a further communication with more information in the near future.
Thank you for your continued understanding and patience as we navigate this situation.
Sincerely,
Pamela Garnham
Superintendent/Secretary-Treasurer/CEO
Portage la Prairie School Division
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Update #4: February 6, 2025
Dear Families and Staff of the Portage la Prairie School Division,
We are writing to provide a further update about the cybersecurity incident that PowerSchool,
our student information system (SIS) provider, recently experienced.
In our previous update, we mentioned that PowerSchool would be providing notice to students,
parents/guardians, and educators whose information was involved and that the notice would
include information about identity protection and/or credit monitoring services offered.
PowerSchool has now advised us that it has initiated the process of notifying those individuals.
PowerSchool will be notifying individuals by email, and we understand the email will be sent
from ps-sis-incident@mail.csid.com. We understand these emails will be sent by PowerSchool
in the coming weeks.
Whether or not you receive an email, you may also visit PowerSchool’s website to learn how to
activate the identity protection and/or credit monitoring services For those able to utilize credit
monitoring services (individuals over 18), you will be prompted to validate before activating by
entering your first name, last name, and date of birth. Anyone, including those under 18, can
utilize identity protection services. You may not be able to access the credit monitoring services
immediately, as PowerSchool is still updating its list of eligible individuals. PowerSchool
indicated that its updates should be completed by the end of February. PowerSchool has
advised that you can call 833-918-7884 if you have any questions.
We continue to work diligently to request more details from PowerSchool. We also continue to
investigate this incident ourselves, with assistance from experts. We may be in touch again with
further updates.
There continues to be no operational impacts on the Portage la Prairie School Division as a
result of this incident. PowerSchool has assured us that the incident has been contained.
In the Portage la Prairie School Division, we take cybersecurity and protecting information
seriously. We will post updates about the PowerSchool cybersecurity incident on our website
and social media accounts. We have provided on our website some answers to questions you
may have. If you have any additional questions, please submit them using the divisional form.
Thank you for your continued understanding and patience as we navigate this situation.
Sincerely,
Pamela Garnham
Superintendent/Secretary-Treasurer/CEO
Portage la Prairie School Division
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Update #3: January 30, 2025
Dear Families and Staff of the Portage la Prairie School Division,
We are writing to provide an update about the cybersecurity incident that PowerSchool, our
student information system (SIS) provider, recently experienced.
We appreciate that more details about this incident that is impacting educational institutions
across North America are needed. We have been working diligently to request more details
from PowerSchool and ask questions about the details it has provided to date. We have also
been investigating this incident ourselves, with assistance from experts.
While PowerSchool has advised that its investigation is still ongoing, it has provided some
additional details and next steps:
- Identity Protection and Credit Monitoring Services: PowerSchool has engaged
Experian to offer two years of complimentary identity protection services for all students
and educators whose information was involved. PowerSchool has also engaged
TransUnion to offer two years of complimentary credit monitoring services for all
students and educators whose information was involved and who have reached the age
of majority. - Notification to Individuals Involved: Starting in the next few weeks, PowerSchool will
provide notice to students, parents/guardians, and educators whose information was
involved, as well as a phone number to answer any questions they may have about the
incident. The notice will include the identity protection and credit monitoring services
offered, as mentioned above. - PowerSchool is in the process of notifying Canadian regulators about this incident. The
Portage la Prairie School Division has already notified the Manitoba Ombudsman. - You may visit https://www.powerschool.com/security/sis-incident/ for up-to-date
information on the incident.
Based on our own investigation to date of the information stored in our SIS, we can advise that
no parent/guardian, staff, or student Social Insurance Number (SIN), banking, or credit
card information has been identified as stored in our School Information System.
PowerSchool has nevertheless advised us that the identity protection and credit monitoring
offers mentioned above will be sent to all individuals with any information involved.
We await additional details from PowerSchool about the findings of its investigations, the
information involved in this incident, and the timing of the notices it will send. We will provide
you with a further update on this when available. Rest assured that when we have details to
share, we are committed to sharing them.
There continue to be no operational impacts on the Portage la Prairie School Division as a
result of this incident. PowerSchool has assured us that the incident has been contained.
In the Portage la Prairie School Division, we take cybersecurity and protecting information
seriously. We will post updates about the PowerSchool cybersecurity incident on our website
and social media accounts. We have provided, on our website, some answers to questions you
may have at: https://www.plpsd.mb.ca/division-and-resources/news/post/powerschool-cybersecurity-incident. If you have any additional questions, please submit them using the
divisional form: https://forms.office.com/r/nD2FHPt3c3.
Thank you for your continued understanding and patience as we navigate this situation.
Respectfully,
Pamela Garnham
Superintendent/Secretary-Treasurer/CEO
Portage la Prairie School Division
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Update #2: January 13, 2025
Dear Portage la Prairie School Division Community,
We are writing to provide a brief update about the cybersecurity incident that PowerSchool, our
student information system provider, recently experienced.
PowerSchool’s investigation is ongoing and we await additional details from PowerSchool about
the information accessed as a result of the incident. We empathize with your concerns about
this incident that is impacting educational institutions across North America. We also
understand that you may be looking for additional details as well. Rest assured that when we
have details to share, we are committed to sharing them.
There have been no operational impacts on the Portage la Prairie School Division as a result of
this incident. PowerSchool has assured us that the incident has been contained.
In the Portage la Prairie School Division, we take cybersecurity and protecting information
seriously. We will post updates about the PowerSchool cybersecurity incident on our website
and social media accounts.
We have provided answers to common questions on our school division website:
https://www.plpsd.mb.ca/division-and-resources/news/post/powerschool-cybersecurity-incident,
and you will also find the questions below. If you have any additional questions, please submit
them using the divisional form: https://forms.office.com/r/nD2FHPt3c3.
Thank you for your understanding and patience as we navigate this situation.
Sincerely,
Pamela Garnham
Superintendent/Secretary-Treasurer/CEO
Portage la Prairie School Division
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Update #1: January 8, 2025
Dear Families and Staff of the Portage la Prairie School Division,
We are writing to inform you that on January 7, 2025, the Portage la Prairie School Division was notified by our student information system (SIS) provider, PowerSchool, that a cybersecurity event had occurred in late December and that some of our PowerSchool data was accessed. PowerSchool, not the Portage la Prairie School Division, was the target of the cybersecurity event. PowerSchool customers across Canada and the United States have been impacted, including the Portage la Prairie School Division. We are working with PowerSchool to ensure the integrity and stability of our data going forward.
To this point, PowerSchool has worked with cybersecurity experts to resolve the situation. PowerSchool has deactivated accounts and initiated enhanced processes for passwords and access. PowerSchool has provided us with assurances that the accessed data has now been deleted. Furthermore, PowerSchool has confidence that the data was not copied or uploaded elsewhere. PowerSchool is actively engaged with cybersecurity professionals to continue to monitor this event.
Portage la Prairie School Division has taken the necessary preliminary steps to respond to this situation, which includes involving the appropriate professionals. No other school division systems or data was accessed or compromised.
We are investigating this cybersecurity event's impact on the Portage la Prairie School Division. At this time, we believe that the data accessed included information about students, particularly contact information, as well as staff names and work email addresses. No banking information was accessed, and no images of students were accessed.
Please be assured that the safety and security of our data—particularly the information of your children and of our staff is of paramount importance to us and to PowerSchool. We regret that this has occurred, and we will continue to collaborate on this matter.
We are committed to continuing to communicate with you. As we learn more, we will contact you and our community. We will also post communication on our website and social media. The division is committed to responding to questions from families and staff in the coming days.
Regards,
Pamela Garnham
Superintendent/Secretary-Treasurer/CEO
Portage la Prairie School Division
