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Ransomware Attack Causes School 'District-Wide Shutdown'

Written by Stu Sjouwerman | Oct 30, 2019 10:51:58 AM

A ransomware attack hitting Las Cruces Public Schools forced the district to shut down the entire computer system to contain the infection.

Exchanging information with schools is impaired as email and other forms of computer-based communication is no longer possible at this moment.

Swift action does not save the day

The district activated the crisis response team and is working to restore critical services. It is unclear at this point how long the systems will be down. The IT department discovered early Tuesday morning (7 a.m.) that some servers were compromised by ransomware and reacted quickly by shutting down the entire computer network of the district.

Communication with schools in the district is done via phones and handheld radio stations. Although the incident is serious, schools remained open and their activity follows the normal schedule, classes not being disrupted. "At this time we do not believe staff or student data has been breached or compromised," district officials said in a statement for Las Cruces Sun News.

Story continued at BleepingComputer:

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/ransomware-attack-causes-school-district-wide-shutdown/