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AU: Hackers’ extortion bid on schools

Posted on December 16, 2012 by Dissent

I don’t recall ever seeing an media report on an extortion/ransom attempt on a school, but here’s a case out of Australia, where they also seem to have more media reports of ransomware in the healthcare and small business sectors than we do. As reported by the Herald Sun:

Schools have emerged as a new cybercrime battleground, after a north coast community school had its records seized by hackers.

Byron Bay Community School had its student records and accounts seized by hackers who demanded payment in return for access to files.

Police advised the school not to pay up and the NSW Police Cybercrime squad is investigating the attempted extortion.

[…]

Are market forces at work here, too? Do hackers demand as much from schools as from medical practices or businesses? The paper doesn’t disclose the amount demanded, but the problem of ransomware seems to be mushrooming globally.

Category: Breach IncidentsEducation SectorHackNon-U.S.

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