A Des Moines Public Schools cyberattack forced administrators to shut down all the schools in Iowa’s largest district and turn off all internet and network services.
The cybersecurity incident was discovered Monday morning and the school district’s internet and network services were taken offline as a preemptive measure while the attack was being investigated and assessed.
“Because many technology tools that support both classroom learning, as well as the management and operation of the school district, are not available at this time, the prudent decision is to close the district for the day,” the district said in a statement posted to its Facebook page and Twitter feed. The Des Moines Public School’s website was not accessible as of Tuesday morning.
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The district’s administrative offices remained open Tuesday though administrators acknowledged that staff trying to work both on-site and remotely could have trouble accessing the district’s network.
“Lack of internet impacts teaching and learning at a high level in a way that it hasn’t, maybe historically,” Des Moines Education Association President Josh Brown told the Des Moines Register after the Des Moines Public Schools cyberattack, “but our classrooms rely more and more on technology that is internet-based or connected to our network in some way.”
Classes are canceled at Des Moines Public Schools for Tuesday, January 10. Offices will be open although staff may be working remotely and services limited. Athletics and activities are currently scheduled to take place.
1/3 pic.twitter.com/BkGawXrW4W— DM Public Schools (@DMschools) January 9, 2023
The manner of the Des Moines Public Schools cyberattack has not yet been clarified. A recent report revealed that one in four U.S. schools suffered a cybersecurity incident last year. That study also found that teachers felt they were not getting enough training in preventing attacks.
When it comes to ransomware—in which hackers lock down district data in exchange for payments in cryptocurrency—educational institutions suffered a similar number of these attacks last year as they did in 2021, according to an FBI analysis.
The most significant difference between the last two years involves the number of individual schools impacted. In 2021, there were a total of 1,043 schools between all the impacted districts. In 2022, that number nearly doubled to 1,981. Some 45 school districts were hit by ransomware attacks last year.
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