Ransomware attacks disrupt Richmond and Oneonta school districts

Ransomware attacks have disrupted two East Coast school districts, with Richmond Public Schools in Virginia keeping all 53 campuses open despite network outages and ransom notes, while Oneonta City School District in New York closed for two days after a separate attack. Richmond teachers and students are using paper copies of classwork as the district works to restore systems, and Oneonta classes are expected to resume Tuesday. Officials have not identified the attackers or confirmed whether personal records were stolen.

Richmond keeps schools open during outage

Richmond Public Schools, which serves nearly 22,000 students and is among the 100 largest school divisions in the US, first announced the attack on October 21 after teachers found ransom notes on their laptops. The district said staff had no access to Wi-Fi, cameras, phones, copying, Smartboards, Chromebooks, or PowerSchools learning platforms. The unknown ransomware group wrote, 'We have gained access to your network, extracted sensitive data, and encrypted your critical files. This situation demands immediate attention from your leadership team,' and threatened to leak allegedly stolen information unless the district made contact within 72 hours.

Five days later, network access remained unavailable, and on Monday the district said teachers and students were still operating without normal digital resources. To keep classes running, Richmond enlisted three outside printing companies to produce physical teaching materials, received help from the Richmond Public Library to print classwork, and is working with school copy machine vendors to restore copying. Superintendent Jason Kamras thanked teachers for their 'resilience, flexibility, and dedication' and said free credit monitoring is being offered to all staff, students, and families out of an abundance of caution.

The district also established a secure alternate network accessible via Chromebooks, with laptops being issued to teachers late Monday or Tuesday. Kamras said all teachers should receive Chromebooks to allow access to RPS platforms, and HDMI cables would also be distributed to connect computers to digital classroom displays.

Oneonta closes after separate ransomware attack

In upstate New York, the Oneonta City School District was forced to cancel school for all students on Friday and Monday after confirming a separate ransomware attack. The incident was first discovered on Thursday, October 22, and the district initially believed it was dealing with an internal technology problem before officials confirmed ransomware. Third-party experts were brought in to investigate while classes were canceled.

Superintendent Thomas Brindley told AllOtsego on Monday that the district is working with outside experts to determine the full scope of the breach and restore normal operations. In a statement to a local media outlet, he said, 'At this time, we do not yet know the full extent of the incident or its potential impact on district operations.' As of Monday, it was unknown whether student, employee records, or personal information were compromised. Classes are expected to resume on Tuesday, October 27. The district serves about 1,700 students across five schools, from kindergarten through high school.

Wider school cyberattack trend

Both attacks come amid a string of breaches targeting US schools and EdTech providers throughout October, including one Idaho district where attackers took control of school cameras, door locks, and HVAC systems. No ransomware gang has been identified in either the Richmond or Oneonta attack, and it is unclear whether either district made contact with or paid its attackers.

Sources: Cybernews