Schools in Albuquerque, New Mexico remained closed Friday, as officials continued to investigate a cyberattack that shut down critical computer systems. The school district originally canceled school Thursday after the attack compromised the student information system used to take attendance, contact families in emergencies and assure that students are picked up from school by authorized adults. Later on Thursday, the district said it needed more time for its investigation. Albuquerque schools, which were previously scheduled to be closed Monday for Martin Luther King Day, are now expected to reopen on Tuesday. According to the superintendent of Albuquerque schools, the district is now focused on returning students to class as soon as possible and is working to identify the problem, determine the extent of exposure, put fixes in place, reinforce safety protocols and increase the level of monitoring to prevent future attacks.
Schools districts have become a popular target for cyber attacks, particularly ransomware, in recent years due to the fact that many are running outdated computer systems and don't have the same financial resources or manpower for cybersecurity that many private sector companies do. At the same time, like hospitals and critical infrastructure, schools can't afford to be shutdown for long, making it more likely that they will pay ransoms to get their systems unlocked. The pandemic and reliance on online learning has only boosted the stakes. According to the K-12 Cybersecurity Resource Center, which tracks cyberattacks against schools, there were just over 400 publicly disclosed cyberattacks against schools in 2020, the most recent data available.
Credits:
https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/albuquerque-schools-remain-closed-after-cyberattack/
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