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FinalSite ransomware attack shuts down thousands of school websites

January 7, 2022/in Computer Security

School Ransomware

FinalSite, a leading school website services provider, has suffered a ransomware attack disrupting access to websites for thousands of schools worldwide.

FinalSite is a software as a service (SaaS) provider that offers website design, hosting, and content management solutions for K-12 school districts and universities. FinalSite claims to provide solutions for over 8,000 schools and universities across 115 different countries.

On Tuesday, school districts that hosted their websites with FinalSite found that they were no longer reachable or were displaying errors.

At the time, FinalSite did not disclose that they had suffered an attack but simply said that they were experiencing error and “performance issues” across various services, affecting mostly their Composer content management system.

“This impact may include, but is not limited to, Groups Manager, Constituent Manager, Login, Forms Manager (old), Registration Manager, Directory Elements, Athletics Manager, Calendar Manager,” reads the FinalSite status page.

A school IT administrator told BleepingComputer that FinalSite did not provide them with a time frame as to when services would be restored and were forced to send emails to parents alerting them of the outage.

“Our website is currently down due to an issue that our service provider is experiencing. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you,” read an example outage email shared with BleepingComputer.

In addition to the website outages, a system administrator shared on Reddit that the attack prevented schools from sending closure notifications due to weather or COVID-19.

“Many districts are complaining that they are unable to use their emergency notification system to warn their communities about closures due to weather or COVID-19 protocol,” explained the Reddit post.

Outages caused by a ransomware attack

After three days of disruption, FinalSite confirmed today that a ransomware attack on their network is causing the outages.

“We are incredibly sorry for this prolonged outage and fully realize the stress it is causing your organizations. While we have made progress overnight to get all websites up and running, full restoration has taken us longer…

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Canada Revenue Agency shuts down online services over global ‘security vulnerability’ – National

December 11, 2021/in Computer Security

The Canada Revenue Agency says it has taken its online services offline after it learned of a possible security threat.

The agency says on its website that it became aware of a “security vulnerability affecting organizations around the world” and decided to take services offline as a precaution.

It says there is no indication the agency’s systems have been compromised, or that there was any unauthorized access to taxpayer information.

Further details about the nature of the security vulnerability weren’t provided, but on Friday, it was reported that a flaw was uncovered in a utility that’s ubiquitous in cloud servers and enterprise software used across industry and government.

Click to play video: 'CRA locks out over 800,000 online accounts'

2:56CRA locks out over 800,000 online accounts

CRA locks out over 800,000 online accounts – Mar 13, 2021

Cybersecurity firms said companies and governments were scrambling to patch their systems, with some calling it the worst computer vulnerability in years.

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The CRA says it is working to secure its systems and apologizes for the inconvenience.

“We understand that this interruption may be inconvenient to some Canadians. Our services will be available as soon as possible,” the agency said on its website Saturday.

Click to play video: 'Canada Revenue Agency shuts out some taxpayers'

2:23Canada Revenue Agency shuts out some taxpayers

Canada Revenue Agency shuts out some taxpayers – Feb 17, 2021

Meanwhile, southern Ontario transit agency Metrolinx said the GO Transit website had been brought back online Saturday after a 17-hour outage…

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Ransomware attack shuts down Indiana health system’s network

October 4, 2021/in Internet Security

Franklin, Ind.-based Johnson Memorial Health was struck Oct. 2 by a ransomware attack that disabled its computer network.

The health system is working with the FBI and cybersecurity experts to restore its computer operations, according to a news release. The health system said ransomware attacks take time to resolve, so it may be several days before its computer systems are fully operational.

No appointments or surgeries have been canceled, the health system said. Patients are expected to receive services as scheduled, but it’s recommended patients arrive earlier than normal, as registration processes are expected to be slower.

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‘Network security incident’ shuts down Joplin city computers

July 8, 2021/in Computer Security

JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — Law enforcement officers and a cybersecurity firm have been called in to investigate a “network security incident” that caused Joplin city government’s computer system to shut down, the city said Thursday.

The computer problem was discovered early Wednesday and the systems were not operating as of Thursday afternoon.

The affected system was isolated and investigators were called in, city spokeswoman Lynn Onstot said in a news release Thursday.

“As we investigate the incident and bring our systems back online, we will look for opportunities to further enhance our existing security measures,” she said.

The outage did not affect 911 emergency services, or the city’s ability to provide police, fire and emergency services, Onstot said.

However, the municipal court was not operating, online bill payments were inaccessible and some public transportation was not available.

Case investigations for communicable diseases through the city’s health department will be conducted on a limited basis until the issue is resolved, according to the release, but COVID-19 vaccinations were still available.

Other services such as the WIC program, temporary Medicaid applications, vital records, animal control dispatch also were available only on a limited basis.

The Joplin Municipal Airport was able to continue operating normally, the city said.

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Tag Archive for: Shuts

Outages caused by a ransomware attack