How Malware Is Affecting Schools Across The Country
By: Andrew Rodriguez
Malware is a software designed to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to a computer system. Due to the pandemic, many schools have switched to distance learning by hosting classes virtually. This has left many schools in a panic to adapt to this new way of living, many school districts defenseless against malware attacks.
Rialto Unified School District had to shut down their network and internet on Aug. 23 due to a malware attack that affected their computer systems. It caused the district to temporarily suspend Bridge Academy, an online platform for pre-kindergarten through 8th grade were using for distance learning. In a tweet from the district’s Twitter page states all high school students are to discontinue the use of the devices given out by the school and return them to school sites where replacement devices will be handed out as soon as possible. Services such as the Remind app and Blackboard have also been included. The post also mentioned the Chromebooks and iPads handed out to students in grades pre-kindergarten through 8th grade had been affected by the malware. After the district’s IT team investigated the incident and found that only the district’s computer systems and the devices high school students were using were affected, the school district resumed online classes on Aug. 31. The district has yet to give any further statements about how the malware got into their systems or if they will be pursuing any legal action.
This isn’t the first time malware has hit a school district in the Inland Empire before, San Bernardino City Unified School District had a similar attack in October 2019 where hackers infected the district’s servers with ransomware causing the faculty to be locked out of their emails. Universities such as UCSF and the University of Utah have also had malware affect their systems. In June 2020, UCSF had to pay a ransom of $1.14 million in order to unlock encrypted data that was stolen from them. The University of Utah had a similar attack in July 2020 where they had to pay a ransom of $457,059 in bitcoin to unlock the data servers.
With distance learning having become the new norm, academic institutions were in a rush to open back up as soon as possible without having the necessary time to focus on security. Cybersecurity must be the main priority school districts focus on in regards to student’s privacy and their own. With the internet being such a massive platform these types of attacks can happen easily without the knowledge of the user. Technology is expanding everyday and many people aren't able to keep up with these advancements. This gives hackers an opportunity to exploit these systems and to steal important information.
School districts are left vulnerable to malware attacks, as there is no strong security system in place and with schools closed they were put under pressure to start classes virtually, without making taking the necessary steps to ensure safety. The result is that many school districts are now facing attacks on their systems. These attacks not only cause a disruption for the whole school but to the student's ability to learn as well.