With new school year, federal agencies warn of increased cyberattacks

As another school year begins, children are returning to classrooms, teachers are preparing for their busy season and public administrators are ramping up oversight of educational cyberdefenses. Over the last few years, educational institutions have become focal points for cybercriminals. In a joint statement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center warned school districts to be ready.

“Over the past several years, the education sector, especially kindergarten through twelfth grade (K-12) institutions, have been a frequent target of ransomware attacks. Impacts from these attacks have ranged from restricted access to networks and data, delayed exams, canceled school days, and unauthorized access to and theft of personal information regarding students and staff,” reads the advisory, which was issued Tuesday.

Already, the cybersecurity organizations are actively investigating incidents. Over the Labor Day weekend, for example, the Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation’s second largest district with more than 640,000 students, was targeted by a ransomware attack that primarily disrupted its email services. Administrators responded quickly, and the biggest setback impacting normal operations was that all students and staff had to reset their passwords and log back in, creating a bottleneck. Classes were able to resume without delay.

“The decision to resume classes and work was informed by the district’s ability to confirm that our most critical systems were viable. Our student information systems were back up and running within the first two hours of the school day,” reads a statement from the district.

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