Chicago Sun-Times

Ex-CPS worker charged with stealing info on 80,000 people in latest data breach

- BY NADER ISSA AND MATTHEW HENDRICKSO­N Staff Reporters Kristi Sims

A former Chicago Public Schools worker faces several felony charges after officials allege the worker stole personal informatio­n on about 80,000 employees, volunteers and vendors from a CPS database.

The former worker, Kristi Sims, was arrested Thursday; officers recovered the stolen files after executing search warrants, according to CPS and Chicago police officials. Sims, 28, is a former contractor who handled administra­tive tasks for the Office of Safety and Security.

Sims was ordered released on her own recognizan­ce at a bond hearing Friday at the Leighton Criminal Court Building by Judge Sophia Atcherson;

Sims also was ordered not to access to the internet while the case continues.

In a letter to employees Thursday evening, CPS Chief Operating Officer Arnie Rivera said the district learned of the massive data breach Wednesday, the day after the informatio­n was stolen.

Among the data stolen were names, employee ID numbers, phone numbers, addresses, dates of birth, criminal arrest histories and DCFS findings. Social Security numbers were not taken, Rivera said.

“There was no indication that the informatio­n, which was in the individual’s possession for approximat­ely 24 hours, was used or disseminat­ed to anyone in any way,” Rivera added.

A CPS spokesman referred questions about the criminal charges to Chicago police, but Rivera said “CPS will work to ensure the individual is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Sims is also suspected of deleting the targeted files from the CPS database after they were stolen.

Sims, of southwest suburban Hickory Hills, faces four counts of aggravated computer tampering and three counts of identity theft, according to police.

Assistant State’s Attorney Tom Simpson said Sims was terminated by the contractor that employed her. The firing was due to performanc­e issues, Simpson added, but the contractor then did not remove her access to the Board of Education’s Google Drive account. Sims is accused of accessing the Google Drive account from a remote location, Simpson said.

Sims’ access to the drive after her terminatio­n was discovered by tracking her unique username and password, Simpson said. She was initially hired to help organize the Board of Education’s cloud accounts and conduct background checks on employees and volunteers.

A defense attorney for Sims, Kevin Peters, said she was a lifelong resident of Chicago who had never been arrested before. Several family members attended court in support of her but declined to comment after the hearing.

This latest CPS data breach comes only a few months after the school district mistakenly sent a mass email that linked to the private informatio­n of thousands of students and families.

The email invited families to submit supplement­al applicatio­ns to selective enrollment schools. Attached at the bottom of the email was a link to a spreadshee­t with the personal data of more than 3,700 students and families.

 ??  ??

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States