Rectory School Data Breach Exposes Social Security Numbers

Rectory School, an independent junior boarding and day school in Pomfret, Connecticut, disclosed a data breach that originated from a network disruption in September 2025. The total number of individuals affected across the United States has not been disclosed.

The breach was reported to the New Hampshire Attorney General on July 9, 2026. Rectory School began mailing notification letters to affected individuals on July 9, 2026.

On Sept. 14, 2025, Rectory School experienced a network disruption. The school launched an investigation and brought in independent cybersecurity experts to determine what had happened and whether any school data had been affected.

The investigation found that certain files had been potentially acquired without authorization. An independent data review team then conducted a review of those files.

Following the review, Rectory School and its third-party specialists needed to verify the identities of potentially affected individuals, gather and validate contact information and assess the scope of the breach. The process was completed on July 6, 2026.

On Sept. 30, 2025, a ransomware group known as Qilin claimed responsibility for the attack on its dark web portal. The group stated that it had obtained 143 GB of the school's data and posted sample screenshots on its portal as evidence.

The types of personal information exposed in the breach included names, Social Security numbers and driver's license or state identification numbers.

Rectory School's response to the breach

Rectory School is offering complimentary identity protection services through Kroll, a data breach and recovery services firm. Those services include credit monitoring, a $1 million identity fraud loss reimbursement policy and fully managed identity theft recovery services.

Affected individuals can enroll in the complimentary monitoring services by visiting Kroll's enrollment page and entering the membership number found in their notification letter.

The school also established a toll-free call center staffed by Kroll representatives who are familiar with the incident. Affected individuals can reach the call center at 844-959-7156, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time, excluding major U.S. holidays.