Cyber Incident Victim: Upper Canada District School Board
Date:
Jan 2025
Location:
Canada
Summary
The Upper Canada District School Board experienced a significant cybersecurity incident causing widespread network disruptions across all schools, forcing manual operations for attendance tracking, absence notifications via telephone, and in-person student registrations due to offline systems. While authorities and cybersecurity experts were engaged to restore services and assess impacts, the board confirmed no initial evidence of compromised personal data and emphasized that the technical outages did not jeopardize student safety, though full restoration efforts remained ongoing.
| CIA Posture | Motives | Tactics, Techniques & Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| Available to members | 0 motives | 1 technique |
| Threat Actors | Type | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 0 actors | Available to members | Available to members |
Description
On January 5, 2025, the Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) announced a significant network disruption affecting all its schools, including Vankleek Hill Collegiate Institute, Pleasant Corners Public School, Laggan Public School, Glengarry District High School, and Maxville Public School. The incident manifested on January 6, the first school day after the Christmas break, rendering internet access unavailable for staff and students. This forced schools to revert to manual processes: parents reported student absences via telephone instead of digital systems, attendance was recorded on paper, and staff contacted guardians directly for unaccounted students. New student registrations could only be processed in person due to offline web services. The UCDSB confirmed on January 6 that the disruption stemmed from a cybersecurity incident, though it initially found no evidence of compromised personal data. Police were notified, and third-party experts were engaged to investigate the breach and restore systems.
By January 8, technological services remained offline, including the My Family Room platform, with no estimated restoration timeline. The board maintained that student safety was unaffected despite the operational paralysis. Staff worked continuously to assess the incident’s scope and reinstate network access under secure conditions. Manual attendance tracking and telephone-based communications persisted as interim measures. The disruption highlighted the board’s dependency on digital infrastructure for routine administrative and educational functions, though physical school facilities remained open throughout the incident.