Jayed Rahman reports on a breach that has been characterized by substandard incident response by the school district from the outset: Superintendent Eileen Shafer’s administration spent $13,816 in public funds in its investigation of the data breach that claimed tens of thousands of school district passwords, according to public documents reviewed by the Paterson Times….
Category: Education Sector
NJ: Livingston Public Schools Hacked With Ransomware, Classes Delayed Today
CBS reports: Livingston public schools are getting a late start today after the district’s computer network was hacked. Administrators said the system was infected with ransomware Friday and engineers have been working around the clock to fix it. Read more on CBS.
Sag Harbor School Computers Impacted by Ransomware Attack
Dan Rattiner reports: Kids at Sag Harbor’s Pierson High School who have bad grades might have gotten a lot to cheer about last Monday, November 11. On that day, administrators and teachers found out that hackers had seized the school’s computer system. What would happen to class schedules, reports, college acceptance information, salaries to be paid, bank balances? And…
Port Neches-Groves ISD recovered access to files — but only after paying ransom
There’s an update to the ransomware attack on Port Neches-Groves ISD in Texas, previously noted on this site on November 12. Raegan Gibson reports that as of Monday, November 18, the district had regained access to its files — but it involved paying ransom, most of which was covered by the district’s insurance: The attackers…
MA: Chicopee school computers, servers hit by Ransomware
Ryan Trowbridge, Sarah Guernelli, and Andrew Masse report that Chicopee Public Schools in Massachusetts was hit with a ransomware attack — specifically, Ryuk ransomware. The attacker(s) have demanded $300,000, but the district says they are not paying it and have been working to deal with the situation since Monday morning. Read more on Western Mass…
Accidental data breach at Las Cruces Public Schools discloses vendor social security numbers
KVIA reports: Las Cruces Public Schools now confirms it accidentally sent out an email back in September containing the social security numbers of vendors the district uses. That email was sent to about 150 district employees, officials said. Vendors were advised to place a fraud alert on their credit files as a precaution. Those vendors…