Almeida Law Group is investigating a data breach at Glendale Community College. If you were affected, contact Almeida Law Group.
About Glendale Community College
Glendale Community College (GCC) is a public community college located at 1500 North Verdugo Road in Glendale, California. Founded in 1927 and part of the California Community Colleges system, GCC serves more than 25,000 students across its Verdugo Campus, Garfield Campus, and Professional Development Center in Montrose. The college offers associate degrees, certificates, transfer preparation, career development, and continuing education programs. Because GCC maintains student educational records, its systems hold a significant volume of sensitive personal, financial, and health-related information.
What Happened?
GCC was listed in a California Attorney General sample breach notice filed on June 23rd, 2026. On June 16th, 2026, the college was notified of a potential cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized copying of data from student educational records. GCC states that employee data does not appear to have been affected. The potentially compromised information varies by individual and may include names, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers, passport numbers, financial aid information, and health-related information. GCC engaged third-party specialists to contain and investigate the activity, secured its network, and is offering complimentary credit monitoring and identity protection services to potentially affected individuals.
Supplemental research attributes the incident to the ShinyHunters threat group, which was reported by Ransomware.live on June 15th, 2026 as having claimed responsibility for compromising glendale.edu. That report cited more than 62 gigabytes of data and over 304,000 files taken from GCC’s PeopleSoft Campus Solutions systems — including integrations related to financial aid and admissions — and referenced more than 150,000 student records. Security Affairs corroborated the ShinyHunters attribution on June 16th, 2026. This is at least the second direct cybersecurity incident affecting GCC’s own systems. In November 2023, GCC detected a separate breach in which an unauthorized party accessed employee information including names, addresses, dates of birth, and Social Security numbers. A third event — a May 2026 breach of the Canvas/Instructure learning management platform attributed to ShinyHunters and affecting millions of users across thousands of schools — also impacted GCC, though the college described that incident as unrelated to its internal systems. No class action litigation specifically connected to the June 2026 breach was found as of June 25th, 2026.
Key Facts at a Glance
- Company or Organization: Glendale Community College
- Industry: Higher Education (Public Community College)
- Location: Glendale, California
- Incident type: Unauthorized access and copying of student educational records
- Date breach discovered: June 16th, 2026
- Date of consumer notification: June 23rd, 2026
- Identity theft protection offered: Yes — complimentary credit monitoring and identity protection services
- Prior breach: Yes — November 2023 breach of employee data; May 2026 Canvas/Instructure platform breach
- Litigation status: No class action litigation found as of June 25th, 2026
- Source: California Attorney General sample breach notice (https://oag.ca.gov/ecrime/databreach/reports/sb24-625293); GCC official incident disclosure (https://www.glendale.edu/about-gcc/communications/update); Ransomware.live (https://www.ransomware.live/id/Z2xlbmRhbGUuZWR1QHNoaW55aHVudGVycw); Security Affairs (https://securityaffairs.com/193777/data-breach/edtech-faces-a-cybersecurity-crisis-data-breaches-surge.html)
What Should You Do?
If you received a notification from GCC, enroll in the complimentary credit monitoring and identity protection services as soon as possible, and note any enrollment deadline communicated in your notice. Place a fraud alert or credit freeze with the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — to make it harder for someone to open new accounts in your name. Monitor all of your financial account statements closely and obtain your free annual credit reports at AnnualCreditReport.com to check for accounts you did not open or unauthorized inquiries. Because health-related information was identified as a potentially compromised data type, review any Explanation of Benefits statements from your health insurer and check your medical records for services you did not receive. If you spot suspicious activity, report it promptly to your financial institution and visit IdentityTheft.gov for step-by-step guidance on recovering from identity theft.
Your Legal Rights
If your personal or health information was involved in this breach, you may have legal rights depending on the facts of the incident and the law in your state. Almeida Law Group represents consumers in data breach and privacy litigation and can help you evaluate whether you may have a claim. Contact us at (708) 529-5418 or through our contact page for a free case evaluation.
