Cyber Incident Victim: School District No. 67 (Okanagan Skaha)
Date:
Feb 2024
Location:
Canada
Summary
School District No. 67 (Okanagan Skaha) experienced a cybersecurity incident causing a districtwide network outage, disrupting phone and email services while schools remained operational. The outage impacted communities including Penticton, Summerland, Kaleden, and Naramata, with no restoration timeline available. The district is receiving support from the Ministry of Education and Child Care, Safer Schools Together, local authorities, and a cybersecurity incident service provider to resolve the situation. Communications infrastructure remained offline pending resolution efforts, though in-person education continued unaffected during the response.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 1 motive | 1 technique |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On February 1, 2024, School District No. 67 (Okanagan Skaha) experienced a districtwide network outage resulting from a confirmed cybersecurity incident. The disruption impacted all schools within the district’s jurisdiction, which includes educational facilities in Penticton, Summerland, Kaleden, and Naramata. District staff were promptly notified of the incident, though critical communication systems—including email and phone services—became inoperable. Despite the network failure, schools remained open and operational, maintaining in-person instruction and campus activities without relying on digital infrastructure. The district did not specify the nature of the cyberattack or identify affected internal systems beyond the generalized network outage. No timeline for restoring services was provided at the time of initial reporting, leaving the duration of the disruption uncertain.
The district engaged multiple external partners to respond to the incident, including the British Columbia Ministry of Education and Child Care, Safer Schools Together, local law enforcement, and a specialized cybersecurity incident response firm. Coordination focused on investigating the breach, mitigating further damage, and restoring network functionality. No evidence suggested student or staff data compromise, though the district did not explicitly confirm or deny data exposure. Communication outages persisted beyond the initial attack, with officials indicating phones and emails would remain offline indefinitely until systems were secured. The incident caused no physical closures or cancellations of school operations, reflecting a prioritization of maintaining educational continuity. Recovery efforts remained ongoing with no publicly disclosed resolution date or additional technical details about the attack vector or remediation progress.