Long-Inactive Web Portal For Wisconsin Teachers Gets Hacked

A web portal used by thousands of teachers in Wisconsin has been hacked, with login and password info being posted on a public site.

The My CESA Portal was a site where teachers in Cooperative Educational Service Agencies (CESA) could register for training and track what conferences they attended. CESA 10 administrator Mike Haynes of Chippewa Falls said they were told yesterday that the site, which hadn’t been active for years, was hacked and that teacher emails and passwords were posted online.

“The information was first discovered on a website named Anonymous, which is the site that is frequented by hackers. We have no idea who the perpetrators are or where they are located.”

Haynes has no idea why hackers would target this site but says no vital information has been stolen.

“We were fortunate that the hacking occurred in this manner and certainly wasn’t affecting anything that is currently being used or contained more sensitive information.”

The University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Information Technology has launched a forensic investigation to find how the hackers got in the system. Haynes says all teachers affected have been told to change their passwords.