Children’s data hacked after school software firm missed basic security step, internal report says

An executive admitted during a meeting that a breached account had failed to use multi-factor authentication, according to materials reviewed by NBC News.

The hack of a company that helps schools track tens of millions of students appears to be the largest breach of American children’s personal information to date, school officials and cybersecurity experts say.

And a specially commissioned interim cybersecurity audit by cybersecurity company CrowdStrike showed that the company had apparently failed to take basic precautions to protect students’ data, according to a copy exclusively obtained by NBC News and records of internal discussions.