A school district in West Virginia investigates a cyberattack

Last February 6, the students of the Berkeley County Schools got a day off from studying after the school district was hit with a cyberattack that caused a widespread network outage. The incident affected the school’s IT operations system, forcing its management to request aid from cybersecurity experts to investigate and resolve the issue.

A released statement of the incident disclosed that more than 19,000 students were affected in the cyberattack, with their sensitive information potentially stolen by unknown hackers. While this suspicion has yet to be confirmed, the school district assured that further updates would be provided under applicable laws.

 

The school district has been working diligently to ensure a prompt incident resolution.

 

Berkeley County Schools’ superintendent stressed that they are now working with cybersecurity teams and relevant authorities, hoping to mitigate the incident and avoid disrupting students’ learning. Furthermore, the school district underlined that they placed a high value on integrity and data security; hence, their prompt action about the unforeseen breach.

One impacted system on the institution was an app where parents could monitor their children’s school bus services in real-time. The usability of internet and phone services across Berkeley County Schools has also been disrupted.

Some parents expressed their concerns, especially that the stolen data of the students could include emergency cards or child protective orders, which could now be exposed online.

The school’s daily operations could also be impacted, as it heavily relied on technology to maintain order and have a working and safe learning environment for students. These vital tools include security cameras, school-related applications, HVAC functions, badge readers, network signals, and others that highly depend on the school’s IT infrastructure.

Moreover, students’ safety is also put at risk, supposing that the hackers accessed the attendance system and some student records that should not have been made public in the first place.

Berkeley County Schools said they would remain offline until the full scope of the incident had been determined.