School district had to shut down in-person classes because of ransomware attack, superintendent says - NJ.com

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After one day of classes, the Somerset Hills School District closed down the schools on Tuesday because it said there was an “unexpected network disruption.”

In a letter to the school community, the superintendent said the district’s computer network would need to be offline for 48 hours, forcing classes for Bernardsville Middle School and Bedwell Elementary students to go virtual on Wednesday and Thursday.

On Thursday, Superintendent Gretchen Dempsey said in another letter that ransonware was the culprit.

“Upon further investigation, it was discovered that the district’s network had been the target of a cyber incident; ransomware was used sometime after Friday, September 3 to encrypt a very limited portion of the network,” Dempsey said.

When a computer system is infected with ransomware, the cybercriminal encrypts files and demands a financial payoff — the ransom — to release the data. The superintendent didn’t say how much money was requested.

Dempsey said the district hired “industry-leading forensic experts to contain the incident and ensure that the network could be restored to full operability safely.”

“At this moment, we have no evidence of any information being exfiltrated from our network or misused by the threat actor,” she said.

A full virtual schedule will continue through Monday, Sept. 14 for all students, she said, at which time they “hope” to have the district’s network repaired.

Separately, Dempsey said the number of COVID-19 cases “within our school community” continues to grow.

She would not give more information when asked about cases, directing NJ Advance Media to the Bernards Township and Somerset County Health Departments, which Dempsey said the district is working with to support contact tracing efforts.

The health departments did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

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NJ Advance Media reporter Kelly Heyboer contributed to this report.

Karin Price Mueller may be reached at KPriceMueller@NJAdvanceMedia.com.

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School district had to shut down in-person classes because of ransomware attack, superintendent says - NJ.com
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