The Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) says hackers breached its student financial aid website, potentially exposing the personal information of roughly 4.9 million people. FLDOE discovered the intrusion on October 19, launched incident response procedures and says the breach has been contained. The compromised site, FloridaStudentFinancialAidSG.org, hosts the state’s scholarship and grant programs, and FLDOE warns that anyone who has applied for financial aid in Florida could be among those affected. Names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and gender codes may have been accessed, though the department notes not all individuals were necessarily affected and the specific information may vary. The agency has not disclosed how the attackers entered or who is responsible, and no threat group has claimed the attack. The Florida Digital Service and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement are assisting with the response, and FLDOE cautions that some websites and online services may be disrupted while remediation continues. Existing student aid remains safe and disbursements will not be delayed. 1