Fort Scott College Data Breach Impacts 4,016: SSNs Exposed

Fort Scott Community College, a public institution in Kansas, recently experienced a data breach affecting thousands of individuals in the United States.

The breach was first discovered on Nov. 23, 2025, when the college identified suspicious activity on its computer systems. Action was taken to isolate impacted systems and engage both internal IT professionals and external cybersecurity experts to secure and remediate the affected infrastructure.

A thorough forensic investigation, conducted by a third-party cybersecurity firm, revealed that unauthorized parties had accessed the college’s network and potentially viewed or extracted sensitive data files.

After a detailed review of the compromised files, the college finalized the list of affected individuals on Jan. 30, 2026. In total, 4,016 people across the United States were impacted, including one resident of Maine.

The types of information exposed included personally identifiable information (PII) such as names, Social Security numbers and financial account information.

The breach was formally disclosed to the Maine Attorney General on Feb. 23, 2026, and affected individuals began receiving written notification on the same day.

Fort Scott Community College's response

All impacted individuals have been offered complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft protection services through Kroll for 12 months.

The notification letter provides detailed instructions on how to enroll in these services and includes recommendations from the Federal Trade Commission on protecting against identity theft, such as monitoring financial accounts, requesting free credit reports and placing fraud alerts or security freezes on credit files.

Given the nature of the information exposed, affected individuals are strongly encouraged to take advantage of the offered credit monitoring, remain vigilant for signs of identity theft and promptly report any suspicious activity to the appropriate authorities.