Teachers currently are teaching and grading with pen and paper. They are not able to use the Internet at school.
“It’s not like turning on, flipping a light switch when the lights go on or off and this problem goes away in a day, a week, or even a month,” Jefferson County Superintendent Walter Gonsoulin told employees recently.
Despite challenges, classes are continuing, Gonsoulin said. State standardized testing got underway this week after officials piloted a limited network fix. And Gonsoulin addressed rumors about paychecks being delayed — he said that isn’t the case — and said officials are working to make sure everyone gets paid on time.
“We’re having school, and we’re having school effectively. That’s the most important thing,” Gonsoulin said.
According to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, ransomware is a form of malware designed to encrypt files on a device, rendering any files and the systems that rely on them unusable. Malicious actors then demand ransom in exchange for decryption.
Hackers did not obtain any personally identifiable information, Gonsoulin said, and school officials are working with law enforcement to determine who is responsible. No ransom was paid, he added.
For now, he said, the district’s network, including on-campus Internet, is off limits. Teachers are having to adjust to “doing school the old way,” he told AL.com.
Gonsoulin asked employees to be patient while the district recovers from the attack, saying that recovery will happen in phases.
Employees currently are not allowed to use district-issued devices, including desktop and laptop computers and iPads.
Teachers shouldn’t bring devices from home, either, he said.
“That, too, can negatively affect this entire process.”
A district spokesperson told AL.com the networks that have been restored are being used exclusively for state testing currently, but they expect to open up the networks for regular instruction soon.
“Half of the schools have all phones completely restored,” the spokesperson said. “And all schools have at least some phones working.”
Jefferson County is the latest known school district to experience a cyber attack in Alabama, but it isn’t alone.
Cyber attacks on schools have increased through the years, particularly on K-12 school districts. Schools have information that cyber criminals want.
“We’ve got valuable data,” Susan Poling, head of the Alabama Leadership in Educational Technology, told lawmakers last month, “personal data on students in the state of Alabama and a lot of data on their parents and all the employees.”
Hackers force the shutdown of networks and phones, she said, in hopes that districts will pay a ransom.
The organization polled school districts and said respondents reported an increase of phishing attempts.
Phishing is a type of cyber attack where people are tricked into clicking a link or attachment in an email that then allows criminals to steal valuable information or implant malware on a computer or network.
Of the 138 school districts who responded to the poll, Poling said, 8 percent had experienced a ransomware attempt.
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