Officials from an Albany-area school district have launched an investigation into a malware attack that pushed students in grades 7 through 12 into all-remote learning on Monday.
Specialists investigating “technical interruptions” that occurred last Thursday “have concluded that the district was the target of a cyber assault by a threat actor group that used malware to encrypt some devices in the district,” according to the Guilderland Central School District’s website.
Officials from the 5,700-student district said they are looking into “whether any confidential data has been impacted.” They announced that school buildings for students in grades 7 through 12 will be closed on Monday.
In recent years, an outbreak of ransomware attacks has afflicted school districts and other government departments around the country. A criminal group infiltrated the computer system of Florida’s Broward County Public Schools earlier this month, threatening to publish students’ and employees’ personal details online unless it was paid $40 million in ransom.
