Capita strikes again: Bug in UK-wide school info management system risks huge data breach

guest · Jul 17, 2018

Capita strikes again: Bug in UK-wide school info management system risks huge data breach
Techies told to patch: ICO probes error that let pupils link to the wrong parents
July 17, 2018
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/..._schools_contact_book_risks_huge_data_breach/

Updated Capita has admitted a bug in an information management system used by 21,000 UK schools could have incorrectly linked contact details to the wrong pupils – an incident with huge implications for pupils' data protection.

According to a user on an education technology forum, the software uses a matching routine to check if any of the pupils that are being imported have contacts that already exist in SIMS. If this is the case, that pupil is linked to that contact, with the address being updated if necessary.

“Unfortunately, several aspects of the matching routine [were] accidentally removed so that the matching routine only checks for matching names and gender. The net result is that existing contacts can be given the wrong address and the imported pupil in the admission group can be linked to the wrong contacts,” the user wrote.

Nonetheless, the ICO told The Register that it was aware of the incident and was making enquiries.
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mirimir · Jul 17, 2018

Damn, they need to pay their coders better!

guest · Jan 22, 2020

Capita Education Services accidentally spaffs email addresses in Helpdesk snafu
January 22, 2020
https://www.theregister.co.uk/2020/01/22/capita_education_services_email_spaff/

Capita Education Services had a bit of an oopsie yesterday as a new helpdesk system spurted potentially thousands of email addresses at unsuspecting users.

A Register reader got in touch to express his surprise at receiving an email regarding a helpdesk ticket he didn't open, logged by someone he didn't know.
To make matters worse, the email contained approximately 100 addresses in the To: field. A colleague reported receiving the same email, except with the address field populated by a different 100 addresses.
A quick glance at the edugeek forums confirms that our reader is not alone in receiving Capita's spaffage.

An upgrade to the Schools Information Management System (SIMS) in December 2017 resulted in some pupils being linked to the wrong contact details – a potentially huge boot up the backside of students' data protection.
A borkage related to the Common Transfer Files (CTF) mechanism in the system last year caused yet more headaches.
Click to expand...

Disclosing those email address in the To field is, however, not great practice
We also spoke to the ICO, which told us the matter has yet to be reported to it. Capita has 72 hours from acknowledging the breach to do so.
Click to expand...

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Capita strikes again: Bug in UK-wide school info management system risks huge data breach

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