American students admit to invading educational technology companies and stealing data from tens of millions of users

ChainCatcher News, 19-year-old student Matthew D. Lane from Massachusetts pleaded guilty to federal hacking charges. Lane hacked into the systems of a major edtech company by stealing login credentials, compromising the personal information of over 60 million students and 10 million teachers, including sensitive data such as social security numbers, medical records, and academic grades.

According to the indictment, Lane conspired with an accomplice from Illinois to extort approximately $2.85 million in cryptocurrency ransom from the victim company. Although the indictment does not name the company directly, the details of the case closely match the data breach incident disclosed by the education software company PowerSchool in September 2024. PowerSchool previously admitted to paying a ransom to the hackers but did not disclose the specific amount. The case is currently being heard in the federal district court in Massachusetts, and sentencing details have not yet been announced.