- CDE said ETS suffered a months-long data breach.
- The Record reported that exposed records included student names, birth dates, addresses, schools, districts and grade levels.
- CDE said California began notifying families on Oct 16 and planned to continue notices through November.
Educational Testing Service suffered a months-long data breach, the California Department of Education said. CDE began notifying families on Oct 16.
The affected information included student names, birth dates, residential addresses, schools, districts and grade levels, according to The Record.
The affected population included students enrolled from 2023 through the current school year, along with some students who left a California school since 2006, The Record reported. More than 5.7 million students were enrolled in California public schools during the 2025 school year, it said.
On this page
ETS took its site offline after discovering the breach
The company said it had “halted normal enrollment data processing and paused certain testing activities” while it assessed system security and continued its investigation.
CDE is assessing the incident with cybersecurity experts
CDE said the state would continue distributing notices through November. It is assessing how the incident will affect California students with state cybersecurity experts and other agencies.
The Record reported that the attack exposed sensitive information covering children enrolled in California public schools over the last three years. It said the records included gender, race or ethnicity, primary language, country of origin and English learner status.
CDE said ETS had not found evidence through regular web monitoring that the information had been made public. The Record reported that no hacking group had claimed responsibility as of Oct 20.
CDE said it is working with state cybersecurity experts and other agencies to assess the incident’s impact on California students.
ETS said it had halted normal enrollment-data processing and paused certain testing activities while it assessed its systems and continued its investigation. No hacking group had claimed responsibility as of Oct 20, The Record reported.
FAQ
Which California students were affected by the ETS breach?
The Record reported that the affected population included students enrolled from 2023 through the current school year and some students who left a California school since 2006.
What information did the ETS breach expose?
The Record reported that the information included names, birth dates, addresses, schools, districts, grade levels and student identifiers.
Has the ETS student information been made public?
CDE said ETS had not found evidence through regular web monitoring that the information had been made public.
What did ETS do after discovering the breach?
ETS disabled the account used to access the information, took its site offline, built a new platform, halted normal enrollment-data processing and paused certain testing activities.
Sources
- California officials who process ballots from suspected noncitizens risk prosecution, U.S. warns, NBC NewsPrimary
- California warns all public school students of data stolen in contractor breach, The Record
- California officials who process ballots from suspected noncitizens risk prosecution, US warns, Newsday
- DOJ warns California officials who count noncitizen ballots risk prison time, BizPac Review
How we checked this story
| Claim | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|
| The Record reported that an attack on a California Department of Education contractor exposed sensitive information covering all public-school children enrolled over three years. | The Record | Attributed |
| The Record said the stolen information included student names, birth dates, addresses, schools, districts, and grade levels. | The Record | Attributed |
| The Record said the affected population included current and former students enrolled from 2023 through the current school year, plus some students who left since 2006. | The Record | Attributed |
| The Record said more than 5.7 million students were enrolled in California public schools during the 2025 school year. | The Record | Attributed |
| CDE said ETS had not found evidence that the stolen information had been made public. | CDE, via The Record | Attributed |
| The Record said no hacking group had claimed responsibility for the attack as of October 20, 2026. | The Record | Attributed |
| CDE said california began notifying families on October 16 and planned to continue distributing notices through November. | CDE, via The Record | Attributed |
| ETS halted normal enrollment-data processing and paused some testing while its systems were assessed and the investigation continued. | ETS, via The Record | Attributed |
| Newsday reported that the Justice Department warned California officials who process and tabulate suspected noncitizen ballots they could face criminal investigation and prosecution. | Newsday | Attributed |
| Newsday said the letter was copied to California Secretary of State Shirley Weber and Los Angeles County Registrar Dean Logan. | Newsday | Attributed |
| Newsday said it was unclear how many people the Justice Department might investigate or charge. | Newsday | Attributed |
| Donald Trump said trump said officials involved would go to jail for a long period of time. | Donald Trump, via Newsday | Attributed |
| Newsday said the Justice Department had charged about 90 people with election misconduct this year, including 50 alleged to have voted as noncitizens. | Newsday | Attributed |
| Newsday said the Justice Department lawsuit followed California officials’ failure to meet a 48-hour deadline to review a password-protected thumb drive containing 20,000 names. | Newsday | Attributed |
| Rick Hasen said the letter increased pressure by threatening election officials with potential criminal prosecution. | Rick Hasen, via Newsday | Attributed |
| Justin Levitt said courts had rejected the Justice Department’s arguments and the letter would not change course. | Justin Levitt, via Newsday | Attributed |
| BizPac Review reported that the Justice Department told Los Angeles County officials it was not asking them to cancel registrations, but to hold ballots pending citizenship checks. | BizPac Review | Attributed |
| Attorney General Todd Blanche said state-facilitated voter fraud was unacceptable in the United States. | Todd Blanche, via BizPac Review | Attributed |
| The Justice Department said it would continue investigating voter-fraud cases, holding fraudsters accountable, and restoring trust in elections. | Justice Department, via BizPac Review | Attributed |
| NBC News reported that the letter was issued less than three weeks before the November 3 election. | NBC News | Attributed |
| NBC News said the administration demanded voter information including birth dates, addresses, driver’s-license numbers, and partial Social Security numbers from states. | NBC News | Attributed |
| NBC News said homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin alleged in July that as many as 250,000 noncitizens were registered in four states. | NBC News | Attributed |
| NBC News reported that the Justice Department lawsuit was filed one day before the warning letter. | NBC News | Attributed |
| NBC News said sens. Alex Padilla, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Dick Durbin asked the attorney general not to seize ballots or election materials before certification. | NBC News | Attributed |
| nbcnews.com published its report on Oct 17, 2026. | nbcnews.com | Confirmed |
Could not verify
- Whether the stolen information was accessed or misused is not established
- Whether the incident affected every student in the described population is not established
- Whether the attackers belonged to a particular group is not established
- Whether a CVE or exploitation of a software flaw was involved is not established
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