The San Bernardino City Unified School District is the newest in a list of educational organizations to find itself a victim of a ransomware attack, finding themselves unable to access computer systems on October 21st. While student and parent data was still believed to be secure, the infection was locking employees out of servers and preventing the use of Wi-Fi and other computer related tools.
Speaking of the impact, Superintendent Dr. Dale Marsden said, “We are committed to doing all we can to continue serving our families and to strengthening our systems so something like this doesn’t happen again.”
In the aftermath of the event, a statement from the district noted, “We are working with law enforcement and a third-party expert to restore the network. At this point there is no estimated time for restoration of services. As part of the ongoing investigation, the school district cannot disclose the ransom demands.”
The targeting of a school district for a cyberattack is not unusual, with other recent attacks occurring against educational organizations in Arizona, New York, and Kentucky, with at least 62 ransomware attacks against school districts being reported this year.
Sources:
https://abc7.com/ransomware-attack-cripples-san-bernardino-school-districts-computer-system/5635301/
https://www.sbcusd.com/news/what_s_new/u_p_d_a_t_e__ransomware_attack_on_district_network
https://gdpr.report/news/2019/10/22/privacy-ransomware-attack-hits-san-bernardino-city/
