Broken Arrow Public Schools targeted in ransomware attack
BROKEN ARROW, Okla. – For the second time in less than three months, an Oklahoma school district has fallen victim to a ransomware attack.
Officials with the Broken Arrow Public School District say they were recently targeted by ransomware. They say they believe the attack was orchestrated to disrupt the operations of the district.
Experts say the hackers demand money for the release of information
The district is currently working with cybersecurity experts to help investigate the attack and recover data.
“Broken Arrow Public Schools has recently been experiencing network and server issues which are believed to be caused by criminal actors attempting to disrupt the operations of our district. Immediately upon becoming aware of the issues, we began taking steps to investigate the situation and notified our cyber insurance carrier. The Board of Education voted to enter into agreements with leading cybersecurity experts to assist us with the investigation and recovery efforts and to enhance the security of our digital environment. The experts have confirmed we have been the victim of a ransomware attack. Ransomware is a type of malicious software designed to deny access to a computer system or data until a ransom is paid. We have no plans to pay the ransom.
Broken Arrow Public Schools places the utmost importance on our network and system security, and district technology experts have been working diligently with vendors to restore normal operations as soon as possible. At this time, we are not aware of any unauthorized disclosure of student personal data or financial information. We have also notified the FBI of this incident and will provide whatever cooperation is necessary to hold the wrongdoers accountable. We appreciate your patience during this period,” a statement from the district read.
Officials stress that no student information has been leaked, but parents and faculty members should keep an eye on their information just in case.
Oklahoma City Public Schools was also hit with a ransomware attack last school year.