[BreachExchange] School district had to shut down in-person classes because of ransomware attack, superintendent says

[Destry Winant]

https://www.nj.com/education/2020/09/school-district-had-to-shut-down-in-person-classes-because-of-ransomware-attack-superintendent-says.html

After one day of classes, the Somerset Hills School District closed
down the schools on Tuesday because it said there was an “unexpected
network disruption.”

In a letter to the school community, the superintendent said the
district’s computer network would need to be offline for 48 hours,
forcing classes for Bernardsville Middle School and Bedwell Elementary
students to go virtual on Wednesday and Thursday.

On Thursday, Superintendent Gretchen Dempsey said in another letter
that ransonware was the culprit.

“Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the district’s
network had been the target of a cyber incident; ransomware was used
sometime after Friday, September 3 to encrypt a very limited portion
of the network,” Dempsey said.

When a computer system is infected with ransomware, the cybercriminal
encrypts files and demands a financial payoff — the ransom — to
release the data. The superintendent didn’t say how much money was
requested.

Dempsey said the district hired “industry-leading forensic experts to
contain the incident and ensure that the network could be restored to
full operability safely.”

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“At this moment, we have no evidence of any information being
exfiltrated from our network or misused by the threat actor,” she
said.

A full virtual schedule will continue through Monday, Sept. 14 for all
students, she said, at which time they “hope” to have the district’s
network repaired.

Separately, Dempsey said the number of COVID-19 cases “within our
school community” continues to grow.

She would not give more information when asked about cases, directing
NJ Advance Media to the Bernards Township and Somerset County Health
Departments, which Dempsey said the district is working with to
support contact tracing efforts.

The health departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.