The International Baccalaureate (IB) has issued a warning to schools after some of its data was accessed and shared online.
Data from 2018, including IB employee names, positions and emails, were accessed through a third-party vendor and shared via screenshots, the IB has confirmed.
In a statement, the IB said no exam material had been compromised.
“We ask you to remain vigilant to any unusual activity or emails in your school community,” an email to headteachers from IB World Schools director Adrian Kearney reads.
“These emails or social posts may include defamation or false content about the IB and may attempt to deceive recipients through phishing schemes, malware attachments, or other fraudulent tactics,” it adds.
‘Increase’ in malicious activity
The IB said it is taking “all necessary steps” to contain the incident and further information will be provided as the situation is ongoing.
Mr Kearney added in the email: “Like many organizations, the IB is seeing an increase in malicious activity attempting to interfere with our systems, and our IT Security department is also observing an uptick in malicious emails originating from nefarious actors.”
This comes after the IB emailed schools last week about reports of May 2024 exam content being shared online.
IB assessment director Matt Glanville said in a separate email to schools sent on Friday that, after investigating, the activity amounted to “time zone cheating”, where students share what they remember from exams on social media before students in other parts of the world take the exam.
The Mathematics: Analysis and Approaches at Higher Level exam was “a particular cause for concern”, Mr Glanville said in his email.
Students had published a document online two or three hours ahead of when students in Western Europe started their exams.
“We are carefully analysing all the comments and questions to identify any unusual approaches, which if repeated in an exam may be an indication that students have seen this material,” Mr Glanville said.
The IB will open a formal investigation for malpractice where students who may have cheated are identified and said that these students may receive no marks or be banned from sitting exams in the future.
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