An attack on the Newhall District in Valencia is one of the many ransomware attacks targeting the education sector in America. As children head back to school and learning moves online it seems that schools are becoming a major target for ransomware attacks. This most recent attack of Californian schools targetted 10 different elementary schools, affecting around 6,000 students, according to Valencia’s city officials. The attack took place on Sunday night and ran into Monday morning. The Newhall Superintendent, Jeff Pelzel, first noticed signs of the attack on Monday morning when he received consistent error messages when trying to access his emails. After this, it became apparent that the district had fallen victim to a ransomware attack.
Attacks on educational institutions are on the rise, due to the sheer amount of information these institutions hold. A recent report by Checkpoint notes that this summer these attacks have risen in the US, Europe and Asia, in the education and research sector. The USA has been one of the biggest targets of cyber attacks, with a weekly increase of 30% in cyberattacks in the education and research sector. Unfortunately, with the recent move to online learning and increased interest in educational institutions by hackers, it seems that there will be no end to these cyber attacks any time soon.
