Hackers Leak Confidential Information After School District Fails Ransom Pay

Posted by: Kyeyune Andrew Jonathan in World news September 29, 2020

Hackers are believed to have gained access to confidential information of a school district about current and former staff and students in Las Vegas. The information is on the fifth-largest school district in the United States according to a statement posted on the district’s website.

The Clark County School District (CCSD) in Las Vegas reopened for in-person learning on August 24. Three days after its reopening however, hackers attacked its servers gaining access to the classified information.
According to the statement, certain computer systems from CCSD became infected with a virus on August 27. This virus prohibited access to certain files in the system.

The hackers reportedly hijacked documents containing social security numbers, student’s grades, and other important information. This happened after officials refused to pay a ransom in return for unlocking district computer servers.

Hackers attacked the school district and other institutions with sensitive information even before the pandemic. The hackers blocked users’ access to their own computer systems unless a ransom is paid. In those instances, the so-called ransomware crippled the district’s operations. Hackers didn’t usually expose damaging information about students or employees.

Information misuse;

The school district serves more than 320,000 students in Clark County, Nevada according to CCSD. The district said it hasn’t received any reports of attempted misuse of the leaked information. It has provided notice to students and staff members out of an abundance of caution.

However, after the incident, the school district informed law enforcement who immediately involved third-party forensic investigators. The investigators concluded that CCSD became a victim of a criminal ransomware attack. CCSD is, however, not the only district to fall victim to a cyber attack in the year 2020.

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