In recent weeks, it became known that the PowerSchool SIS (student information system) experienced a massive data breach in December 2024. According to PowerSchool, “information related to current and former students and educators involved included one or more of the following, which varied by person: name, contact information, date of birth, limited medical alert information, Social Security Number (SSN)/Social Insurance Number (SIN), and other related information,” was involved. In other words, students’ Social Security Numbers and limited medical history was hacked and “exfiltrated” from PowerSchool systems. It gets worse. PowerSchool serves 50 million students across the United States. It is unclear how many of these students had their data breached, but what is clear is that PowerSchool can do better.

After seeing the LMS/SIS PupilPath, which my high school, Brooklyn Tech, used get hacked—affecting around 820,000 students including myself—we ensured that our systems were designed to prevent any such attacks. Student data in LX Aer is not only encrypted, as PupilPath failed to do, but even if we were to get hacked, no sensitive student data could be exposed. This is thanks to our industry-leading encryption protocol, LX SecurShield, which ensures that even LX Aer cannot access sensitive student data. In addition to this, we offer comprehensive private cloud and self-hosting solutions with LX SecurSphere.

While the industry behemoths treat innovation (and consequently, advanced security technology) as an afterthought, LX Aer is perpetually leading innovation in EdTech, with a particular focus on cybersecurity.

To learn more about LX Aer or how we handle student data, please contact us! Call us at (800) 37-LXAER or email us at [email protected].

Sources:

1. SIS Incident | PowerSchool
2. What Schools Should Know About the PowerSchool Data Breach | EducationWeek
3. Data of 820,000 NYC students compromised in hack of online grading system: Education Dept. | New York Daily News