Pelham School District in New Hampshire faced a cyberattack last week, which has caused widespread disruption across the district. According to Superintendent Chip McGee, the attack took down the district’s computers, phone lines, and email systems. As a result, the district’s operations have been temporarily suspended, and all online activities are currently unavailable. The district is expected to remain offline for the next two weeks as an investigation into the breach is carried out, and workers attempt to restore systems.
The cyberattack was first discovered on Thursday when an employee reported issues with their computer. The district quickly activated its incident response plan, but the attack has left students and teachers without access to essential digital tools. Due to the disruption, students can no longer use their Chromebooks, and teachers have no access to their Google Drive accounts or email.
These challenges have affected both teaching and communication, making it difficult for the district to operate as usual.
Despite the challenges, McGee reassured the community that learning will continue, though not in the usual online format. The disruption has had a significant impact on daily operations, but efforts are underway to get everything back online as quickly as possible.
The attack also raised concerns about the long-term effects on the district’s ability to conduct online learning and communicate effectively with parents and students.
Cybersecurity expert Gary Miliefsky pointed out that schools are increasingly becoming targets for hackers, primarily because of the valuable data they hold, such as personal information about students. He explained that this kind of data is attractive to cybercriminals since it is often clean and unprotected. Miliefsky warned that cybercrime is an expanding problem, with financial losses expected to reach up to $1.5 trillion globally by the end of the year. McGee also noted that it is still too early to determine whether any private data, including that of teachers or students, has been compromised in this cyberattack.
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