Security Breach Worries High Schoolers, Parents

One of New York City's most competitive public high schools offered an easy admission to hackers earlier this month.

The New York Post reported that personal information on 2,400 students at Brooklyn Tech High School had been posted on the school's public Web site after a security breach of the school's Moodle internal network. Moodle is an open-source e-learning software platform used by teachers, and student message boards at the high school derided its poor security.

The Post said New York City Department of Education officials reported that student names, addresses, birth dates and, in a few cases, their Social Security numbers and citizenship status, were posted to the public portion of the school's Web site. The posting came some time after an assistant principal in January put student PSAT scores and data onto the e-learning site. It wasn't clear how long the data was in the public eye.

"The assistant principal made a serious error in judgment, undermining the trust between students and school officials," said education department spokesman Matthew Mittenthal. "We fully understand the anxiety this disclosure has caused for students and families."

The assistant principal who posted the data has since received additional training in provision of the federal privacy act, the school said.