HackingEducationEducationStolen CredentialsCustomer Data InvolvedData ExfiltratedIdentity (basic)Government IDFinancial accountPHIMediumContained

Columbia College

bd_4f62de003b886b05 · schema v1 · pii pii-v1

Severity

Medium

Discovered

Mar 1, 2021

Filed

Nov 4, 2021

To disclose

35 weeks

Affected

16state residents only

Linked

6 filings

Confidence

66%

Full breach record for Columbia College →

Columbia College of South Carolina notified the New Hampshire Attorney General of a data security incident affecting 16 NH residents. Unauthorized access to an employee email account occurred on March 15, 2021. Compromised data included names, SSNs, DOBs, financial account info, and health insurance info. The college engaged forensic investigators, reported to the FBI, implemented MFA and EDR, and offered identity protection services to affected individuals.

J jump to incidentP pin to compareR raw source

Incident timeline

Mar 15, 2021

Begins

Nov 4, 2021

Filed

vs. sector median

+25 wks slower

This filing is one of 6 about the same incident.View merged incident

Linked disclosures

Why this link?

Regulatory filings (5) · sorted by filing gap

Massachusetts State AGbd_055a4be80e998aec2021-11-04Verified
Indiana State AGbd_441dc758fc47f94e2021-11-04Verified
Maine State AGbd_706c01d488951c912021-11-04Verified
Montana State AGbd_9c7012584cff016f2021-11-04Verified

Show 1 more filing ↓

South Carolina State AGbd_a60fc0e47f1a4b032021-11-04Candidate

Name: Columbia College
norm: columbia college
Domain: columbiasc.edu

Name: Columbia College
norm: columbia college
Domain: columbiasc.edu
Industry: Educationllm

Discovered: Mar 1, 2021
Breach occurred: Mar 15, 2021
Materiality determined: —
Notification sent: Nov 4, 2021
Affected individuals: 16state-resident count only
Data types: Identity (basic)Government IDFinancial accountPHI
Attack vector: Unauthorized Access
MITRE ATT&CK: T1078 Valid AccountsT1114 Email Collection
Threat actor: External
Regulator citations: reported the incident to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation
Initial access: valid_credentials

During the incident: Took steps to secure their email system
Launched an investigation with the assistance of a leading digital forensics firm
Retained a third-party vendor to conduct a comprehensive review
Enabled 2 factor authentication throughout their Office 365 environment
Deployed Sentinel One endpoint detection and response tool throughout the staff network
Enabled Office 365 audit logs
Limited folder access to individuals with heightened credentials
Reported the incident to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation
Changes made: Enabled 2 factor authentication throughout their Office 365 environment
Deployed Sentinel One endpoint detection and response tool throughout the staff network
Enabled Office 365 audit logs
Limited folder access to individuals with heightened credentials
Source: Quoted from the filing itself, not independently verified.

Time to disclose: 35 weeks(248 days from discovery to filing)
Compliance flags: — (clock not assessable for this source)

Status: No extraction artifact recorded for this disclosure.

Filing propagation · 6 filings · 6 states

View merged incident ↗

Massachusetts State AGNov 4 · first

Indiana State AGNov 4 · first

Maine State AGNov 4 · first

Montana State AGNov 4 · first

South Carolina State AGNov 4 · first

New Hampshire State AGNov 4 · first · this page

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://mm.nh.gov/files/uploads/doj/remote-docs/columbia-college-south-carolina-20211104.pdf
DisclosureLens links to the originating regulator URL — full filing bodies are not redistributed from public surfaces (§4.5).
Filed at: Nov 4, 2021
Raw hash: a044214dcd0d2f4cff01b05339f41086baef425b7d5dd4799f2ea3f0dc840bfb

Linked disclosures

Regulatory filings (5) · sorted by filing gap

Reporting entityColumbia College

Victim entityColumbia College

Incidentdiscovered Mar 1, 2021

Stated responseTook steps to secure their email system

Complianceclock not assessable

Extraction provenanceno artifact recorded

Source provenancemm.nh.gov