The San Mateo County Community College District (SMCCCD) was informed about a recent data breach at our third-party vendor National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) involving their MOVEit Transfer Application. NSC’s services are used by higher education institutions that distribute Federal Financial Aid as required by the Department of Education.
The data breach didn’t impact SMCCCD information systems or WebSMART.
SMCCCD shares data with the NSC, and some of that data includes personally identifiable information (P.I.I.). The NSC has not yet identified what sensitive information was accessed, and they continue investigating this breach. At this time, we do not know who has been impacted or what data has been lost.
SMCCCD has received notice that our data submitted to NSC may be affected, and we are actively monitoring this situation to address any concerns that may arise. We will continue to gather information and provide updates as needed.
Students and alumni impacted by this breach will receive separate notifications via USPS & email from the National Student Clearinghouse.
In the meantime, SMCCCD students and alumni should protect their identity and personal information by taking the following steps:
- Monitor credit card and bank activity for suspicious activity and report it to your financial institution immediately.
- Pull your FREE credit reports through the Annual Credit Report.com which is authorized through the Federal Law.
- Consider placing fraud alerts and credit freezes on your accounts using Experian or Credit Karma.
- Avoid opening suspicious emails.
- Update your passwords frequently.
More detailed information about the data breach can be found on the National Student Clearinghouse alert webpage.