MalwareFinancial ServicesEducationFinanceRansomwareData MishandlingSupply Chain (3P Vendor)Data ExfiltratedData EncryptedCustomer Data InvolvedIdentity (basic)Government IDMediumContained

Vermont Student Assistance Corporation

bd_08c27a98ee1b1bf4 · schema v1 · pii pii-v1

Severity

Medium

Discovered

Jul 16, 2020

Filed

Sep 25, 2020

To disclose

10 weeks

Affected

Not disclosed

Linked

7 filings

Confidence

64%

Full breach record for Vermont Student Assistance Corporation →2 incidents on file

Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) notified customers of a data breach resulting from a ransomware attack on its third-party vendor, Blackbaud, Inc. The unauthorized actor removed a database backup containing VSAC data between February 7, 2020, and May 20, 2020. VSAC learned of the incident on July 16, 2020. Affected data includes names and Social Security numbers. VSAC is offering 12 months of credit monitoring and identity theft restoration services.

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Incident timeline

undetected · 160 days

discovery → filing · 10 weeks / 71 days

Feb 7, 2020

Begins

Jul 16, 2020

Discovered

Sep 25, 2020

Filed

vs. sector median

on median

This filing is one of 7 filings about the same incident.View merged incident

Part of BLACKBAUD, INC. supply-chain incident (2020) — a supply-chain cascade affecting multiple organizations.View cascade →

Linked disclosures

Why this link?

Regulatory filings (6) · sorted by filing gap

Maine State AGbd_2c1946e3a02b43172020-09-25Candidate
Montana State AGbd_79f77c4712b371812020-10-04 · +9dVerified by operator
New Hampshire State AGbd_234aa8a01aad80222020-09-08 · +17dVerified
Indiana State AGbd_71e4dd920ac5fc822020-09-04 · +21dVerified

Show 2 more filings ↓up to 21d gap

Massachusetts State AGbd_9c0dafe3199fe92a2020-09-04 · +21dVerified
California State AGbd_bca2d0e8282fb4bc2020-09-04 · +21dCandidate

Name: Vermont Student Assistance Corporation
norm: vermont student assistance

Name: Vermont Student Assistance Corporation
norm: vermont student assistance
Industry: Financial ServicesllmEducationllm

Discovered: Jul 16, 2020
Breach occurred: Feb 7, 2020 – May 20, 2020
Undetected for: 160 daysoccurrence → discovery
Materiality determined: —
Notification sent: Sep 25, 2020
Affected individuals: Not disclosed
Data types: Identity (basic)Government ID
Data elements: Social Security number
Attack vector: Third-Party / Supply Chain
MITRE ATT&CK: T1486 Data Encrypted for ImpactT1041 Exfiltration Over C2 ChannelT1195 Supply Chain Compromise
Threat actor: External
Regulator citations: Notifying state and federal regulators
Third party: via Blackbaud, Inc.
Initial access: supply_chain

During the incident: Commenced an investigation to determine what VSAC data may have been at risk
Notifying state and federal regulators, as required
Offering complimentary access to 12 months of credit monitoring and identity theft restoration services through Experian
Changes made: Reviewing existing policies and procedures regarding third-party vendors
Working with Blackbaud to evaluate additional measures and safeguards to protect against this type of incident in the future
Source: Quoted from the filing itself, not independently verified.

Time to disclose: 10 weeks(71 days from discovery to filing)
Compliance flags: — (clock not assessable for this source)

Status: No extraction artifact recorded for this disclosure.

Filing propagation · 7 filings · 6 states

View merged incident ↗

Indiana State AGSep 4 · first

Massachusetts State AGSep 4 · first

California State AGSep 4 · first

New Hampshire State AG+4d

Maine State AG+21d

California State AG+21d · this page

Montana State AG+30d

Pattern: first filing Sep 4 (IN), last Oct 4 (MT) — a 30-day rolling notification. Rolling spreads often mean counsel is filing as thresholds trip per state. Why this link?

Evidence ladder

Leak-site claim

Attacker assertion only. Establishes: claim date, group, alleged victim.

Press / market report

Unlocks: incident narrative, operational impact. Still no compliance clock.

State AG / regulator filingThis record

Unlocks: discovery date, data types, affected count, compliance clock.

SEC 8-K / victim statement

Unlocks: materiality, stated response, full audit trail. Ceiling removed.

Source URL: https://oag.ca.gov/ecrime/databreach/reports/sb24-194530
DisclosureLens links to the originating regulator URL — full filing bodies are not redistributed from public surfaces (§4.5).
Filed at: Sep 25, 2020
Raw hash: 065e04b15ff957c5e2e6c5f811936dc73452497bbd4718698f63e704c1b2fd7c

Linked disclosures

Regulatory filings (6) · sorted by filing gap

Reporting entityVermont Student Assistance Corporation

Victim entityVermont Student Assistance Corporation

Incidentdiscovered Jul 16, 2020

Stated responseCommenced an investigation to determine what VSAC data may have been at risk

Complianceclock not assessable

Extraction provenanceno artifact recorded

Source provenanceoag.ca.gov