115,000 students in Baltimore can’t go to school because of a ransomware attack

Ransomware attacks, sadly, have kind of become a part of life when it comes to internet things. While normal users can typically avoid them with just some basic internet know-how, businesses and other high-profile accounts are more susceptible to them.

Last month, we saw multiple hospitals come under attack, and now, the entire Baltimore County school system has basically been shut down due to a new attack. Students had classes canceled last Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and students are still unable to return to virtual school today or tomorrow.

(1/3) Due to the recent ransomware attack, Baltimore County Public Schools will be closed for students on Monday, November 30, and Tuesday, December 1. BCPS offices will be open and staff will receive additional information about Monday and Tuesday.

— Baltimore County Public Schools (@BaltCoPS) November 28, 2020

According to The New York Times, the attack has disrupted the school system’s website, remote learning tools, as well as grading and email systems. Some of this vulnerability can be chalked up to COVID-19 and schools having to pivot to remote learning solutions. This has led to a gap in high-level security, meaning plenty of user, student, and school data is vulnerable to those that want to dig deep enough for it.

Jim Corns, the district’s executive director of information technology, notes that the ransomware attack has encrypted much of the data they have stored, making it impossible to access.

Local, state, and federal authorities are aware of the attack, as well, with Baltimore’s FBI branch posting on Twitter that it was aware of the incident, but did not go into any further detail.

What do you think? Surprised that hackers are targeting school systems? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Josiah Motley

Former KnowTechie editor.