Did the hackers actions help reduce student stress before grading? Or has the situation only worsened?
Billericay School in Essex, United Kingdom, was forced to close after a large-scale cyber attack that severely affected the internal systems of the school.
Parents were informed that the school will be closed to all students on Monday, June 3. The principal of the school, Mr. P. Berry, in a mass mailing to parents and students, said that the attack led to the compromise of all IT systems of the school using complex encryption, which made them inaccessible.
"Our IT specialists are working hard to solve the problem and have already made significant progress in restoring the necessary systems. However, the current situation significantly affects our ability to safely and effectively manage the school," the principal explained.
The temporary closure of the school will allow teachers to prepare alternative teaching methods without access to resources stored in the school system. However, for high school students taking final exams, all the necessary classes will be held in the normal mode.
"While I understand that this creates additional difficulties for families, we need to make sure that the school can operate safely and efficiently in the face of this critical incident. I will contact you next week to provide an update on this incident, " the director said.
Additional information about the nature of the attack or its possible theft was not provided, but the letter clearly indicates an attack using ransomware programs that encrypted computers, thereby blocking access to school systems.
In recent years, many schools in the UK have suffered data breaches due to ransomware attacks. In some cases, hackers posted stolen data on the Internet if their ransom demands were not met.
So, in January last year, confidential information, including data on special educational needs, scans of student passports, information on salaries and contracts of employees from 14 schools, was published online by the Vice Society group. And in September, several British schools fell victim to ransomware attacks, which in some cases led to a delay in the start of the school year.
Billericay School in Essex, United Kingdom, was forced to close after a large-scale cyber attack that severely affected the internal systems of the school.
Parents were informed that the school will be closed to all students on Monday, June 3. The principal of the school, Mr. P. Berry, in a mass mailing to parents and students, said that the attack led to the compromise of all IT systems of the school using complex encryption, which made them inaccessible.
"Our IT specialists are working hard to solve the problem and have already made significant progress in restoring the necessary systems. However, the current situation significantly affects our ability to safely and effectively manage the school," the principal explained.
The temporary closure of the school will allow teachers to prepare alternative teaching methods without access to resources stored in the school system. However, for high school students taking final exams, all the necessary classes will be held in the normal mode.
"While I understand that this creates additional difficulties for families, we need to make sure that the school can operate safely and efficiently in the face of this critical incident. I will contact you next week to provide an update on this incident, " the director said.
Additional information about the nature of the attack or its possible theft was not provided, but the letter clearly indicates an attack using ransomware programs that encrypted computers, thereby blocking access to school systems.
In recent years, many schools in the UK have suffered data breaches due to ransomware attacks. In some cases, hackers posted stolen data on the Internet if their ransom demands were not met.
So, in January last year, confidential information, including data on special educational needs, scans of student passports, information on salaries and contracts of employees from 14 schools, was published online by the Vice Society group. And in September, several British schools fell victim to ransomware attacks, which in some cases led to a delay in the start of the school year.
