Tag Archive for: SCHOOLS.

Report: Private L.A.-Area Schools Victims Of Computer Hacks

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SANTA MONICA, CA — The FBI confirmed Wednesday it is working with two elite private schools in the Southland to find out who hacked into their servers, reportedly exposing confidential teacher salary details and parent contact information.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, one or more hackers published staff payroll documentation in email blasts riddled with racist, sexist and homophobic language, targeting the Center for Early Education in West Hollywood and Carlthorp in Santa Monica.

Both schools educate children of top entertainment executives and high-profile talent, among other students, according to THR, which reported that private security personnel and federal law enforcement officials have been notified and have begun an investigation.

“We’re aware of it and are working with affected schools,” FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller told City News Service.

Messages left with both schools seeking comment were not immediately answered.

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Saginaw Township schools investigating ransomware attack | News

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An investigation is being done about a ransomware attack that happened to Saginaw Township Community Schools.

Saginaw Township Community Schools Superintendent, Bruce Martin knew there might be a problem last Sunday.

“We were starting to get some emails from teachers saying they were having trouble getting into our network,” Martin said.

Turns out the district was the target of a ransomware attack, but Martin said their ability to conduct the business of education wasn’t affected.

“We have a tremendous amount of support from Saginaw Intermediate School District and their tech team, and we were actually able to get everything back online on Monday,” Martin said.

Carl Heiden, President and CEO of Heiden Technology Solutions said these types of attacks are occurring more often.

“About 90 percent of all ransomware attacks, malware, spyware, all those attacks are initiated by a user essentially clicking on a link whether it be in an email or on a website,” Heiden said.

Heiden said the best way to stop the unwanted disruptions is to make sure you always click on a verified link.

“It’s that user education user prevention,” Heiden said. “Essentially if it sounds too good to be true chances are it is.”

Martin said the FBI is investigating what caused the ransomware attack. The district is also trying to determine if any data was compromised.

In the meantime, Martin said the district will review its safeguards to see what can be done to stop these attacks from happening again.

“That’s part of what we’re working on right now and trying to narrow that down and see where our vulnerabilities are because obviously that’s the number one thing we can do to prevent this in the future is to patch up any holes that might be out there,” Martin said.

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FBI, State Police probing cyber hack on Saginaw Township schools

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SAGINAW TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WJRT) – Law enforcement agencies are investigating a cyber attack at a mid-Michigan school district.



A computer popup box screen warning of a system being hacked, compromised software enviroment. 3D illustration.

© Provided by Flint-Saginaw-Bay City WJRT
A computer popup box screen warning of a system being hacked, compromised software enviroment. 3D illustration.

Saginaw Township administrators noticed the issue Sunday, and the FBI and the Michigan State Police are investigating.

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“It could have been a whole lot worse, but it certainly has been disruptive in an already disruptive year,’ says district superintendent Bruce Martin.

The coronavirus has been an issue for school districts for the past year and now Saginaw Township Community Schools have been hit by a computer virus.

Its believed hackers deployed ransomware that infected the district’s computer network.

“A lot of teachers went back old school, with books and paper and pencil,” says Martin.

So what is ransomware?

“It’s malware that infects a computer system or network that encrypts a person’s data making it useless to them,” says Matt McLalin of the Michigan State Police Cyber Command Center.

An entity, like a school district, can remove the virus by paying the person or group that has installed the malware money, a ransom. Once they are paid, the hackers provide a “key” in the form of a series of numbers, letters or characters that unlocks the encryption.

But law enforcement doesn’t encourage anyone to pay up.

“You pay them the money, they are just going to use that money to continue to make new malware and infect others,” says McLalin.

Martin is letting investigators deal with the cyber crooks.

“They are communicating almost daily with the hackers to figure out what exactly they want,” says Martin.

Matt McLalin of the Michigan Cyber Command Center says the hackers are tough to catch because they are mostly overseas. Russia is a big player in ransomware attacks.

It’s not clear how the district was hacked. McLalin says to prevent or foil a ransomware attack, never click on an email or website link you are not familiar with.

“Keep good back-ups, obviously, good, regular back-ups where you are regularly backing up your data, and keep them off-line,” he…

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Endless buffering: Local schools try to solve students’ internet access issues on their own

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By Colin Deppen, The Incline; Jeff Stitt, Mon Valley Independent; and Jamie Wiggan, McKees Rocks Gazette 2.0 

Carla Rathway could hear her youngest son’s frustration from the other room. She knew the clamor meant the internet was acting up again and keeping 12-year-old Preston from his school work. It happened all the time. 

“He’s like, ‘Oh my gosh,’ when it’s buffering or locking him out,” Rathway said, adding she also overhears him saying, “‘I hate this internet.’” 

Like scores of Pennsylvania students, Preston, a seventh grader at Belle Vernon Area School District in Westmoreland County, and his brother, 15-year-old tenth-grader Dylan, were in their second month of online learning this October. But the brothers were doing it all without a reliable high-speed internet connection at home, where they live across the county line in Fayette County.

In place of one, Preston and Dylan relied on an ad hoc network of erratic mobile hotspots and visits to relatives in order to complete their assignments. 

Makeshift solutions, like these, exist all around them. 

Troy Pellick, 18, and Alexa Pellick, 14, of Grindstone, work on schoolwork using the internet at the Grindstone Volunteer Fire Department Social Hall on Jan. 4, 2021. (📸: Nate Smallwood)

Elsewhere in Fayette County, public school students are going to emergency facilities such as firehouses and churches to access the internet. And several districts are experimenting with broadcasting classes on TV at an appointed time — instead of having students log online. 

In neighboring Washington County, one school sent out vans with mobile hotspots meant to help extend the area’s Wi-Fi connections. Farther north, districts in Beaver and Butler counties put access points on school buildings so that families can park in the school lots to use the internet. And across the region, small businesses are opening up their internet access to students. 

Internet service providers such as Comcast — one of the largest home providers in the country — say their coverage areas are constantly and naturally expanding. But experts point to the literal race underway to equip young learners in Pennsylvania and say that…

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