Slate Valley Unified School District

Summary

The Slate Valley Unified School District experienced a cyberattack that accessed staff records and business documents. The attackers issued a ransom demand threatening to release the compromised data, but the district, following legal counsel, refused to pay. Without many core online systems, staff implemented workarounds to keep operations running and avoid canceling classes. The district reports that no student data was leaked and is working with law enforcement while notifying affected individuals.

Motives

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TTPs

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Description

In September, the Slate Valley Unified School District experienced a cybersecurity breach that allowed hackers to access business documents and employees’ personal information. After discovering the intrusion, district officials said that hackers had accessed business documents and employees’ personal information and that the district later received a ransom demand threatening to release that data. The ransom amount was described by district leaders as substantial. Upon receiving the demand, the school board consulted with legal counsel and decided not to pay the ransom. District leaders stated that they did not want to cancel school as a result of the incident. They explained that staff pulled together and created workarounds for every different scenario to keep operations running. The breach forced the district to adapt without many of its core online systems.

Officials say they continue to work with law enforcement. The district is notifying individuals whose information may have been impacted by the cyberattack. District leaders have stated that they do not believe any student data was leaked as a result of the incident. District leaders explained that staff have been using workarounds to maintain essential functions while core systems remain unavailable.

Sources

Sources available to members: 1 source.