BBC reports: Two schools in Kent have been closed after hackers stole data with encrypted information about pupils. The Skinners’ Kent Academy and Skinners’ Kent Primary School said their servers were broken into but they do not believe the hackers have access to student and staff personal records. But the two Tunbridge Wells schools admitted…
Category: Education Sector
UK: Police investigate ‘serious cyber attack’ at Brechin school
James Simpson reports: Police Scotland have launched an investigation after personal details of hundreds of Angus pupils were released during a cyber attack. Exam results and “pupils profiles” outlining learning difficulties and mental health issues of Brechin High School students were released in the breach. […] Documents containing emergency contact details for more than 1,800…
IA: Des Moines Area Community College investigating possible breach
Des Moines Area Community College reportedly discovered a security problem Wednesday which forced them to take some of their computer systems offline. Read about it on KCCI. Attempts to connect to DMACC this mornng returned a 503 error. Looking at their Twitter account, however, we find: UPDATE (6/3/21): #DMACC IT is currently working to restore…
Ca: More than 1,000 NWT residents’ student loan information breached
Emily Blake reports: More than 1,000 NWT residents had private information regarding their student loans mistakenly shared in an email from the Department of Education, Culture, and Employment earlier this year. According to a notice sent on behalf of the deputy minister of the department to those affected, information on the amount of interest they…
IBM gives grants to some k-12 districts to harden security against ransomware attacks
Charlie Osborne reports: All United States public K-12 school districts were eligible to apply for the grants, designed to help school officials “proactively prepare for and respond to cyberattacks.” The grants, worth $500,000 each, have been awarded to school districts in Florida (Brevard Public Schools), New York (Poughkeepsie City School District), Georgia (KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools),…
IA: Union Community School District publicly silent after threat actors dump files on dark web
In a year when they were already dealing with COVID-19 and then accusations that a teacher had improper emails with students, Union Community School District in Iowa found itself with a third major challenge — a ransomware attack. But whereas the district has publicly acknowledged and discussed its response to the first two challenges, they…