July 6, 2007 -- The Department of Education is scrambling to patch potential "leaks" in its new $80 million computerized student-tracking system, The Post has learned. The IBM-designed database - which will include student test scores and personal data from kindergarten through high school - is scheduled to go online this fall.
The IBM-designed database - which will include student test scores and personal data from kindergarten through high school - is scheduled to go online this fall.
Called ARIS (Achievement Reporting and Innovation System), it is the cornerstone of the city's new school-accountability system.
But it may also be an identity thief's dream - a treasure trove of data on 1.1 million public-school children.
Now education officials are worried that the info, ranging from a child's achievement record to family income to Social Security number, could be at risk when teachers, principals and support staff download information or access it from shared computers.
The system "makes available to inexperienced users an enormous amount of extremely sensitive data about students and staff," the Department of Education said in a request for proposals seeking a fix.
The Department of Education could not provide an estimate for the cost of the "data-leak prevention" system.
But the agency is in such a rush to beef up security that it skipped its standard procurement procedure of soliciting sealed bids.
DOE spokeswoman Melody Meyer said the security upgrades would go beyond the database.
"The new system will protect many high-level programs, not just ARIS," she said.
But the request for proposals discusses ARIS security risks.
IBM maintained it did not neglect security when designing the multimillion-dollar system. The computer giant's "understanding is that it is part of a broader data security infrastructure initiative," said spokeswoman Lia Davis.
cbennett@nypost.com
