Ransomware attack shuts down Evanston Township High School campus
By Lauren Victory
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Illinois (WBBM) — The FBI is investigating a cybersecurity at Evanston Township High School that has closed down the whole campus Monday morning.
A ransomware attack is hitting the district’s phone lines, internet services and computers, and impacting the school’s emergency notification and public address systems.
“Because these systems are not fully operational, we made the determination to cancel summer school classes and other on-campus activities until we can restore access to a point where we can safely run school,” said district spokesperson Reine Hanna.
A popup on the Evanston Township High School website announced that summer school, sports camps, and on-campus activities are canceled due to the ransomware attack that happened on Sunday.
Hanna told CBS News Chicago that they have not yet received a money demand for the attack, but it’s “part of the investigation and response process.”
“Because this happened in the summer months, the impact is substantially less than it would’ve been during the regular school year,” she said.
She said the disruption means staff may have limited access to their email and student accounts may not work. Phone systems are also unavailable.
She said the breach is causing a major disruption for students and teachers that do need to access the school building, who will not be able to for at least two days.
Staff members that were scheduled to come in to work Monday have been told to stay home and work remotely.
A school spokesperson said their IT team discovered the breach. An email sent to parents, students and staff Sunday night assured the community that the hack is being handled.
Cybersecurity attorneys and forensic experts are on the case, and the FBI is investigating.
The district’s superintendent said the school is still working to figure out what information the hackers may have accessed, and said, “recovery efforts are under way.”
District leaders said they have already reset Google passwords for employees as a security precaution.
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