Peter Medlin has an update on the Pysa (mespinoza) ransomware attack on Illinois Valley Community College that was first disclosed in April. The college had not paid the ransom demand, and has continued to work to recover from the attack. Medlin notes: In the months since the ransomware incident, IVCC has had to rebuild and…
Category: Education Sector
AU: University of Tasmania IT bungle leads to mass student data breach
Mark Saunokonoko reports: Nearly 20,000 University of Tasmania (UTAS) students have had their personal information exposed to the entire campus after a major IT bungle. The data contained “personally identifiable information” of students at the university. UTAS told 9News in a statement there was “no evidence” malicious activity had caused the data breach. Read more on 9News.
13-year-old student nabbed in cyber attacks on Valpo schools, police say
Bob Kasarda reports on a case in Indiana: VALPARAISO — A 13-year-old Benjamin Franklin Middle School student was arrested and faces a felony charge of hacking into the school district’s computer system in the wake of ongoing disruptions in online learning, police confirmed Friday morning. The boy, who was taken to the Porter County Juvenile…
NC: Guilford Technical Community College hit with ransomware
From a statement on Guilford Technical Community College‘s web site that seems to have been removed: On Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, GTCC had an unauthorized access to the college network. Campuses were shut down for Monday, Sept. 14, 2020 to limit the extent of the unauthorized access and determine its impact. As of today’s update…
TX: School district reaches out to FBI following cyberattack
KRIS-TV reports: Administrators with the Skidmore-Tynan Independent School District reported they have reached out to the Federal Bureau of Investigation following a cyberattack. School administrators said they were victims of a cyberattack Tuesday afternoon. “(We have) given the FBI everything they need to investigate the incident,” school officials said. Read more on KRIS-TV. h/t, @Chum1ng0
Texas Teams Up with FireEye to Tackle Ransomware
This may help some Texas school districts and other public agencies in Texas. I usually don’t post press releases that promote commercial services, but am making an exception because I like the idea that a state is trying to provide more proactive and defensive support to school districts as well as other state agencies: FireEye,…