US school district cancelled Monday classes after suffering a major cyber attack

Berkeley County Schools, the second-largest school district in West Virginia, USA, suffered a significant cyber attack recently that forced the institution to cancel classes on Monday.

Berkeley County Schools said it identified a cyber attack on Friday that disrupted its IT and phone operations. BCS Schools immediately launched an investigation to understand the nature and scope of the cyber attack and notified the law enforcement agencies about the incident.

“This is an active and collaborative investigation involving cybersecurity professionals. We want our students and the community to know that we place a high value on maintaining the integrity and security of the data we hold in our systems, and we are working diligently to restore operations,” reads a notice sent out by BCS to families.

“We do not know if any personal data has been breached at this time. When the investigation is complete, we will notify individuals in accordance with applicable law and provide resources to help protect against the possible misuse of their information if applicable. Reminder, our investigation into the scope of the data that may have been impacted is ongoing,” said Superintendent Ronald Stephens in a note to students and parents over the weekend.

The note also clarified that there isn’t any evidence to suggest that the incident impacted Chromebooks used by students.

The security incident affected phones and internet connectivity across the school district, including apps that allowed parents to track their child’s bus service in real-time.

In January, Iowa’s largest school district also suffered a significant cyber attack that forced it to cancel all classes.

Des Moines Public Schools stated that it “was alerted to a cyber security incident on its technology network.” As a precaution, the school district disconnected its network from the internet and its network services were taken offline to contain the security incident.

“Because many technology tools that support both classroom learning, as well as the management and operation of the school district, are not available at this time, the prudent decision is to close the district for the day,” the school district said.