Florida Department of Education confirms hackers accessed its financial aid website, exposing Social Security numbers
Florida Department of Education financial aid website
The Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) said on Oct 29 2026 that it became aware on Oct 19 of "unauthorized criminal access to the financial aid website". Personally identifiable information, including Social Security numbers, was potentially exposed. FLDOE says it stopped the activity, contained the incident and secured its systems, notified the office of Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, and is working with the Florida Digital Service and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. It says financial aid disbursements, tuition payments and eligibility for scholarships, grants and student loans are not affected. FLDOE hasn't said how many people are affected or who was behind the attack.
Why this severity: Confirmed unauthorized access to a US state agency's financial aid site with Social Security numbers potentially exposed; number of affected people not disclosed
- Started
- Oct 19, 2026
Affected
Not published yet
Fixed in
No fixed release yet
Timeline2
FLDOE publicly confirms the breach, saying personally identifiable information including Social Security numbers was potentially exposed. It has notified the Florida Attorney General and is working with the Florida Digital Service and FDLE; financial aid payments and eligibility are not affected.
FLDOE staff become aware of unauthorized criminal access to the department's financial aid website and activate its cybersecurity response protocols to stop the activity and contain the incident.
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