Coweta County Schools becomes latest victim of ransomware attack
The Brief
Coweta County Schools is the latest victim of cybercriminals attempting to steal sensitive information through security breaches.
Authorities say the school system was alerted to the network activity on Friday night, and it forced them to cancel SAT testing at three high schools over the weekend.
Cobb County has also been the victim of a recent cyberattack, with hackers from the Russian-speaking group Qilin realilng 400,000 files hacked from the county government's system on Saturday.
COWETA COUNTY, Ga. - The Coweta County School System said its systems were hacked in a ransomware attack Friday.
A spokesperson with the school system said no student or employee information was part of the breach, and no school financial information was hacked.
What they're saying
According to Coweta County, the school district experienced a cyberattack Friday that forced officials to cancel SAT testing at three high schools over the weekend.
The attack will not interrupt class for students, but work processes may be slowed for staff and teachers. Testing will go on as scheduled this week.
Why you should care
Cybersecurity experts say hacks attacking governments, schools, hospitals, and utility companies are on the rise, but there are important steps to take now to keep your money and identity safe.
Rick Hudson of Critical Path Security has dedicated his career to stopping cybercriminals and said it is important to take any ransomware attack seriously. Money and critical personal details could be at risk.
"Anything from somebody trying to obtain a credit card in your name, changing addresses on where social security checks may be mailed to, and other things like that ... up to full-blown identity theft," said Hudson.
Dig deeper
On Saturday, hackers from the Russian-speaking group Qilin released 400,000 files hacked from the Cobb County government's system, including driver's licenses, social security cards, and autopsy photos.
Husdon said Cobb County is legally obligated to contact anyone impacted, so he says residents should not try to locate any personal information on the dark web. Searching for that data could bring more malware and viruses to your computer.
"Go ahead and lock your credit, go ahead and do all the two-factor authentication on every account you have, sign up for a password manager, whether it's Lastpass or 1Password. They offer free for individuals," said Hudson. He also recommends secure browsers like Brave.
Coweta County School System officials said it, like the attack in Cobb County, would not be paying the ransom to the hackers.
The Source
Information for this story came from a report by Alexa Liacko and a statement by the Coweta County School District.
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