San Bernadino City schools hit with ransomware

The San Bernadino City Unified School District has been knocked offline by a ransomware attack.

The California school system reported the attack on October 20, stating the district files have been locked and are inaccessible and school personnel are reverting to paper to process some actions. School officials have not given many details on the attack, but at this point they do not believe any data has been accessed.

“Please know: Student and parent data is secure. Nutrition Services and transportation are not impacted. Attendance will be completed manually. School phone lines are working; however, email communications with teachers and staff will not be possible until the situation is resolved,” the district stated.

San Bernadino joins the steadily growing group of school districts and municipalities that have been hit with ransomware this year. While most have opted to not pay the ransom demand, a few districts have given in. In September the Wakulla County Schools board reportedly voted unanimously to negotiate with hackers who infected the Florida-based district’s systems with ransomware. In August the Rockville Center School District in New York paid an $88,000 ransom to regain access.