Recent Events
Hackensack Meridian Pascack Valley Medical Center
November 27, 2023
A ransomware attack impacted two hospitals, Hackensack Meridian Pascack Valley Medical Center in Westwood and Mountainside Medical Center in Montclair. The attack led to emergency room diversions, redirecting patients to other facilities. Ardent Health Services, the management behind both hospitals, took immediate measures against the attack including reporting to law enforcement and disconnecting its network.
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https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/hackensack-meridian-health-potential-cybersecurity-breach/
Bay Area Rapid Transit, CA
January 2023:
The Vice Society, known to be a prolific ransomware group, had leaked extremely sensitive information from its attack on the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART). By ridership, BART is one of the nation’s largest transit systems and the largest transit system in California. Much of the leaked data had related to the transit system’s police department, as many police reports had been shed to light. Although BART’s sensitive information had been leaked, officials say no internal business systems had been impacted by the attacks and the transit system continues to operate.
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Des Moines School District, IA
January 2023:
Des Moines School District, Iowa’s largest school district, was closed after its technicians struggled with protecting the school’s data and restoring its computer systems. The system outage led to the cancellation of classes for 30,000 students. The school’s interim superintendent reports that it is still unclear what happened to its system and cannot confirm anything until its diagnostics are completely run through.
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Regional Cybersecurity Incidents & Data Breaches
New York City Schools
July 9, 2023
The personal data of approximately 45,000 local public school students, staff, and school service providers from New York City was compromised. The attack targeted a security flaw within the widely used file-transfer software, MOVEit, utilized by local schools for internal document sharing and communication with third-party vendors, including special education service providers. This breach also affected various state and federal agencies, alongside some colleges and universities.
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PENNCREST School District
May 2, 2023
The PENNCREST School District suffered a ransomware attack by Royal Ransomware. The district initiated its Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan, shutting down and disconnecting the entire network and technology infrastructure. As a result, the schools were forced to close as the ransomware attack was solved.
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https://therecord.media/colleges-schools-suffer-from-ransomware-and-cyberattacks
Bridgewater-Raritan School District
January 2023:
The Bridgewater-Raritan School District faced a cyber breach in December, revealing that a hacker gained unauthorized access to sensitive data, including social security numbers and insurance enrollment information of both employees and students. They detected the unusual activity on December 12, but only put out a statement on January 27th. The district notified impacted employees via letters and offered them free access to identity monitoring services.
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https://www.govtech.com/education/k-12/bridgewater-raritan-schools-data-breach-exposes-personal-info
365 Data Center, CT
December 2022
A data breach was reported by Avem Health Partners, along with several state attorney general offices, after they had learned one its vendors, 365 Data Center, had been breached by cyberattackers. According to Avem, the breach resulted in the loss of integrity of sensitive consumer data such as dates of birth, social security numbers, etc. Investigators found that sometime prior to May 14, 2022, is when 365 Data Center’s computer systems had been entered and compromised by an unauthorized third party.
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https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/avem-health-partners-files-notice-of-3638798/
One Brooklyn Health, NY
December 2022
A Brooklyn hospital group was hit by cyberattacks late November of this year, forcing the hospital system to revert to traditional methods of pen and paper. Many aspects of hospital services were severely slowed down such as the speed of lab results. Currently it is unclear whether the hospital was hit with ransomware or any other attack demanding payment, but what is sure is the ongoing trend of hospitals being hit by cyberattacks as of late.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/12/nyregion/brooklyn-hospital-cyberattack.html
Metropolitan Opera, NY
December 2022
A cyberattack had been directed towards the Metropolitan Opera, affecting its website, box office, and call center. The Met’s website was later restored on December 15, leaving the Met to rely on the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts website and ticket purchasing methods. Perpetrators of the attack are still unknown, but all around the situation are working hard to mend the situation at hand.
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New York City, NY
December 2022:
The restaurant service platform SevenRoom underwent a data breach as stolen data was sold on a hacking forum by a threat actor. The hacker claimed to have access to thousands of files containing the personal data of customers, and the company immediately disabled access to their systems.
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Monmouth County, NJ
December 2022
A cyber-attack took place against CentraState Medical Center, which reported having technical problems due to an IT security issue. Incoming patients were diverted to area hospitals in response to the network outages.
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Brooklyn, NY
November 2022
The computer systems at a major hospital were inaccessible after a network disruption. Staff was not able to access patient medical records or upload test results, and personal information such as addresses was put at risk.
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Commack School District, NY
November 2022
A Bronx school district suffered a phone outage and ransomware attack that shutdown access to information. Reports have indicated that no student or staff information had been leaked or exposed.
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https://bronx.news12.com/ransomware-attack-targets-commack-school-district
Lehigh County, PA
August 2022
A medical association became aware of a ransomware attack on its network. Affected files may have contained patient-protected health information.
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https://matlv.com/secure/cms/wysiwyg/assets/Notification%20of%20Data%20Security%20Incident.pdf
Mars School District, PA
September 2022:
The data of a school district was leaked online due to a cybersecurity data incident, restricting their access to their email system and internet networks.
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https://www.marsk12.org/apps/news/article/1663593
Somerset County, NJ
June 2022:
A cybersecurity breach shut down the county email system, and school districts such as in Tenafly were forced to cancel final exams and modify lesson plans.
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New York City, NY
June 2022:
In the NFT marketplace OpenSea, an employee misused their access to download and share the email addresses of customers, leading to an increase in phishing scams from hackers pretending to be the official company.
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https://opensea.io/blog/safety-security/important-update-on-email-vendor-security-incident/
Tenafly Public Schools, NJ
June 2022
A ransomware attack had hit Tenafly Public Schools, crippling its computer systems during the time of its final exams. The school was forced to cancel its final exams for its high school students and rely on old school methods (paper, projectors, etc.) to continue school. Hackers had encrypted the schools’ data, leaving it useless until a ransom had been paid.
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Mercer County, NJ
May 2022:
A cybersecurity attack on the township’s computer systems compromised the login information of employees and used the organization's email to send phishing scams to the public.
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https://centraljersey.com/2022/05/23/east-windsor-township-cyber-attack/
Erie County, PA
May 2022:
Several servers at Mercyhurst University were hit by ransomware, impacting students and employees, grades, and financial aid.
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https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/46523520/some-mercyhurst-university-servers-hit-by-ransomware
Westchester County, NY
April 2022:
A ransomware attack in library systems within the county rendered the library computer system unusable, warranting a full computer restore.
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Morris County, NJ
March 2022:
An encryption attack was launched by hackers against an accounting firm’s network, causing it to connect with the hackers’ server. The hackers threatened to sell data on the black market after locking more than 20 systems and demanding a ransom of $50,000.
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https://abc7ny.com/ransomware-computer-hacking-iranian-nationals-newark/12229342/ Trenton, NJ
New Jersey, Statewide
December 21, 2021:
The state office of the Office of Information Technology in New Jersey had difficulty sending out printed state documents due to a cyberattack. This incident was caused by an unauthorized individual gaining access to a contractor’s network.
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https://nj1015.com/nj-cant-print-mvc-documents-issue-checks-because-of-cyber-attack/
Maryland, Statewide
December 5, 2021:
The Maryland Department of Health faced a likely ransomware attack that took down certain pages on its website.
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Eldon School District, MO
December 5, 2021:
The Eldon School District’s technology director discovered a ransomware attack on the district’s server and restored access to computer systems required for classes. Classes were cancelled until the district fixed the immediate problem.
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https://abc17news.com/news/2021/12/07/eldon-school-district-cancels-classes-due-to-ransomware/
Riverhead Central School District, NY
December 3, 2021:
Riverhead Central School District’s network systems were shut down after being a target of a ransomware attack. The district initially said the impact of the attack is unknown, but it did not think student information was not compromised.
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Butler Community College, PA
November 28, 2021:
Butler Community College closed for two days after a ransomware attack of its computer systems. Its main campus and nearby campuses switched to remote classes to restore databases, servers, hard drives, and other devices. The U.S. government has continued to discourage institutions from paying any amount of ransom.
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Paterson School District, NJ
November 20, 2021:
Students at several Paterson schools have been reportedly linked to hijacking virtual learning using inappropriate images and video, language, as well as threats to instructors. Police and local agencies have investigated and pointed to students as the origin of these online disruptions.
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https://abc7ny.com/education-cyber-attacks-nj-remote-learning-hacked-pornography/6419152/
Corry, PA
October 16, 2021:
Corry Area School District officials said it will take “months and months and months” to know the full ramifications of a ransomware attack that hit the district in October.
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https://amp.goerie.com/amp/8549765002
Plumstead Township, NJ
October 8, 2021:
An unauthorized individual gained access to the Plumstead Township email where sensitive information was shared. The criminals gained access to information such as names, addresses, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, etc.
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https://www.fox19.com/prnewswire/2021/10/08/plumsted-township-impacted-by-data-security-incident/
Middletown Township, NJ
October 26, 2021:
A criminal cyberattack disrupted government operations in Middletown Township. The attacks reportedly took down township email and access to information for about three weeks.
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Wildwood Crest, NJ
August 23, 2021:
The local government reportedly paid a ransom to restore its computer systems after a cyberattack.
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Haledon, NJ
August 20, 2021:
An incident that happened over a year ago at Haledon Police department resurfaced as citizens remained concerned about potential data breaches.
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Collegeville, PA
July 19, 2021:
Jefferson Healthcare Cancer patients were warned that their personal information may have been compromised by a cyberattack.
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Bridgewater, NJ
June 24, 2021:
All twelve Bridgewater-Raritan School District websites were hacked by someone posting vulgar pictures and videos.
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Judson Independent School District, TX
June 17, 2021:
The Judson Independent School District was a victim of a ransomware attack in which its communications and computer systems were restricted. The district remained ambiguous regarding the situation, notifying concerned families and staff that there would be a successful resolution and that there was nothing new to report.
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https://www.mysanantonio.com/sa-inc/article/Judson-ISD-ransomware-odyssey-16340453.php
Monroe Public Schools, CT
June 10, 2021:
Technology staff at Monroe Public Schools reported encrypted files and systems, promptly shutting down the network as a cautionary measure. As a result of the ransomware attack, the district hired forensic professionals and notified law enforcement officials, who began to investigate the attack.
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https://www.govtech.com/education/k-12/monroe-public-schools-recovering-from-ransomware-attack
Valhalla, NY
June 1, 2021:
The company Fujifilm was dealing with unauthorized access to its servers from outside of its company. It partially shut down its network, suspecting a ransomware attack.
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https://www.fujifilm.com/jp/en/news/hq/6642
Visalia Unified School District, CA
May 18, 2021:
Following a ransomware attack that shut down its computer systems, the Visalia Unified School District hired a cybersecurity firm to help respond to the attack and restore systems. Although the systems were shut down, students continued to attend classes.
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https://abc30.com/visalia-unified-ransomware-cyber-attack-vusd-schools/10657125/
Colonial Pipeline, TX
May 7, 2021:
After discovering an infiltration of the company’s shared internal drive, the CEO of the Colonial Pipeline Co. made the decision to shut down all 5,500 miles of its pipeline to contain the attack. The company paid $5 million in ransom to DarkSide, a cybercriminal group, because the shutdown was disrupting gas delivery and airline operations.
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Albany School District, NY
April 28, 2021:
A school district in upstate New York experienced numerous technical interruptions and investigated a potential malware attack. This incident forced students in grades 7-12 to switch to a remote learning schedule. A “threat actor group” is suspected to be responsible for encrypting the district’s systems.
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https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/east/2021/04/28/611873.htm
Hillsborough School, NJ
April 16, 2021:
Hillsborough schools were forced to remain virtual due to a network security incident. Local and federal authorities worked to identify the source of this incident, as the school district was forced to adjourn all before and after-school activities.
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https://patch.com/new-jersey/hillsborough/cyber-attack-closes-hillsborough-schools-monday
Nashville, TN
April 14, 2021:
The teledentistry company SmileDirect was faced with a ransomware attack that the company estimated will cost $15 million to remediate.
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Haverhill Public Schools, MA
April 7, 2021:
The security system of the Haverhill Public School District detected suspicious activity on their systems before shutting itself down. The school was shut down for a day to recover the systems and to determine the point of access. The source of the attack is thought to be someone opening a file containing malware.
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Bernards Township School District, NJ
April 5-7, 2021:
A “server focused” security incident occurred at Bernards Township School District in Somerset County. It caused the districts to close for a day to remediate the problem and allow law enforcement officials to investigate the attack.
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https://unifiedguru.com/new-jersey-school-districts-investigate-cyber-attacks/
Waterbury Middle School, CT
March 17, 2021:
Young students at Waterbury School District reported a hacker displaying inappropriate content in the middle of virtual classes. The school’s principal subsequently shut down school accounts and immediately alerted families. All school passwords have been changed and school district counselors have reached out to students affected by this cyberattack.
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Buffalo Public Schools, NY
March 12, 2021:
Buffalo Public Schools became a victim of ransomware attacks that blocked access to computer systems. The FBI stated the ransom demanded may have been in between $100,000 - $300,000. It was unclear if personal information from staff and students was compromised.
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Hanover Area High School, PA
March 8, 2021:
Hanover Area’s Junior Senior High School’s network was hit with a cyberattack that disrupted learning across the district. According to reporting, attacks were received every 27 minutes, traffic between networks were blocked, thus affecting students’ abilities to enter virtual classrooms. Authorities called in the National Guard Defensive Cyber Operations Element to assist.
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Millersville, PA
March 2, 2021:
Millersville University had to shut down and cancel classes due to an external cyberattack. This disruption affected Millersville's Wi-Fi/internet, Zoom, D2L, campus telephones and additional services.
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Affton School District, MO
February 25, 2021:
A network outage caused by a ransomware attack affected network, phone, and internet access across the Affton School District. Many of the district’s devices were disabled and the school was forced to hold virtual classes that day.
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Clearfield County, PA
January 9, 2021:
In early January, Clearfield County was hit by a ransomware attack that locked their system and may have leaked sensitive personal information. After investigating, it was revealed that the hackers behind this had access to their systems since late October of 2020.
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Delaware County, PA
January 8, 2021:
Delaware County reportedly paid $25,000 to retrieve stolen files from a ransomware attack.
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https://whyy.org/articles/delaware-county-paid-25000-in-ransom-during-cyberattack/
Scotch Plains-Fanwood School District, NJ
January 21, 2021:
Hackers shut down Internet usage on school computers during the first day back for in-person learning. The I.T. team identified the problem as a DDoS attack, which disrupts normal traffic patterns of a network. The district said the cyberattack did not affect home networks or personal information.
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https://www.goleader.com/cyberattack-disrupts-in-person-schooling-for-sp-f-students/
New Jersey, Statewide
January 2021:
200 state employees were targeted in a cyberattack when hackers managed to find their way to a government portal called myNewJersey. The accounts were immediately disabled. Hackers were able to get into the system with false credentials.
Baltimore County Public Schools, MD
November 24, 2020:
The Baltimore County Public School District was victim to a devastating ransomware attack in November, causing online classes to be canceled for two days to recover from the attack. According to the district, no personal information was stolen, but the recovery process would prove to be very expensive, with possible costs reaching more than $8 million. The district has not disclosed any information regarding ransom demands.
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Wall, NJ
October 27, 2020:
Ongoing internet connectivity issues at Wall Township Public Schools last week prompted the recent discovery of a cybersecurity attack, marking the latest hardship for the district amid the coronavirus pandemic. According to the board member, the internet connectivity problems experienced last week affected district wide access to the school's computers. Educators teaching virtual classes from Wall Township school buildings were subsequently instructed to work from home due to the issue.
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https://patch.com/new-jersey/wall/wall-twp-district-reports-cybersecurity-attack-board-president
Salem, NH
October 21, 2020:
A ransomware attack infiltrated the town’s computer systems, shut down several key services, and stole information from town servers. Police and Fire department computers went offline, and the town’s online tax payment system was also halted. Initial investigations have shown some information was taken from town servers as well, but the full extent of the breach is not yet known. As of November 4, the town’s computers were still down.
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Westchester County, NY
October 15, 2020:
Cyberattacks on multiple Westchester school districts found these schools deciding if they would pay the ransom or deal with the invisible hacker(s) that had unleashed this ransomware attack on the district. A superintendent at one of the districts claimed he never even thought it was a possibility and was severely unprepared for the breach.
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Houston, TX
October 13, 2020:
The Sheldon Independent School District, consisting of 10,000 students, was hit with a ransomware attack which impacted employees’ bank account information, salary data, email communications, systems that enabled key fobs to open doors to campus, and even security camera systems. For an attack as serious as this, it would take an estimated four to five months to rebuild the system and get back on track. Knowing that this was not a doable option for the school, it was decided that the district would negotiate the attackers and pay upwards of $350,000 to regain access to their network.
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https://www.govtech.com/security/Houston-School-District-Forced-to-Negotiate-with-Hackers.html
Yorktown School District, NY
October 14, 2020:
Yorktown School District was hit by an unspecified cyberattack which significantly affected the school’s network. An “extraordinary amount of time” was required to sort with the attack.
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Cape Cod, MA
October 14, 2020:
Sandwich School District was hit with a DDoS attack on their school network. The problem was identified as failure in their firewall, which caused the district to reinstall and configure their firewall. The problem persisted, and the school district has decided to try and purchase new firewall software.
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Walled Lake, MI
October 12, 2020:
An attack on the Walled Lake Consolidated Schools District in Michigan was able to steal sensitive student and teacher data. Online learning was not interrupted, and computer systems seemed to function as normal. The extent of the attack and its perpetrators are unknown.
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Fairfax County, VA
October 9, 2020:
The Fairfax County Public School District of Virginia fell victim to a ransomware attack led by a criminal group called MAZE. The attack stole the personal information, including social security numbers of teachers and students. Unlike other ransomware attacks, this one did not hold the district's systems hostage, but instead threatened to release the data that was stolen. Some of the stolen information was released on the criminal group’s website on the dark web.
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https://www.fcps.edu/blog/update-cybersecurity-incident
Parsippany, NJ
September 25, 2020:
Parsippany schools grading portal was subject to an attack, however it was blocked by the district’s firewall. The attack focused on the district's administrative systems with the grading website. Parsippany schools were able to quickly shut down their administrative system and move everything over to their general student and staff system.
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https://patch.com/new-jersey/parsippany/parsippany-schools-block-attempted-cyberattack
Paterson, NJ
September 11, 2020:
Paterson schools have moved to a virtual learning platform. Recently, cyberattackers hacked into their system, displaying pornographic images and threatening teachers during classes. This incident has occurred several times and has been reported to the police and the local prosecutor.
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https://abc7ny.com/education-cyber-attacks-nj-remote-learning-hacked-pornography/6419152/
Hartford, CT
September 8, 2020:
A ransomware attack on the Hartford Public School District in Connecticut compromised over 200 servers used by the town school system, police department, and fire department. The city spent over $500,000 upgrading its cybersecurity system the prior year and was able to rapidly respond. Students missed only one day of school, EMS systems continued to function as normal, and administrators believe that no personal data was stolen.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/08/nyregion/hartford-schools-ransomware.html
Somerset Hills, NJ
September 8, 2020:
A ransomware attack was able to encrypt a small amount of data on the district’s servers. Network administrators were able to rapidly isolate the affected systems, but the district still had to shut down its computer systems for two days and canceled in person classes for four days. No information was reported stolen from the district.
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Painesville, OH
June 2, 2020:
A student in the Riverside School District was able to gain access to his school’s information portal, accessing medical records, behavioral reports, and more. The student wanted to demonstrate that his school’s security systems were too relaxed. He was able to obtain an administrator username and password just by emailing the IT department and requesting a password change.
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Bernhards Township, NJ
May 11, 2020:
A ransomware attack encrypted almost all the information on the township’s systems. The township never paid the ransom and went about restoring the systems from backups it had. No data was stolen, but the process of restoring the entire network took more than three weeks.
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East Bay Schools, CA
January 7, 2020:
A ransomware attack disabled Internet and email services to the school after teachers and students returned from winter break. The district worked with two Internet technology companies and several attorneys to get back on track. This is the second attack on a Contra Costa County system in the last week- the library also suffered a similar attack.
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https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/01/07/east-bay-schools-hit-with-cyber-attack-during-break/
Hackensack Meridian, NJ
January 3, 2020:
The Hackensack Meridian Hospital System was hit with a ransomware attack which disrupted its computer network. Hospital officials had to reschedule non-emergency procedures and notified the FBI of the attack. The hospital paid an undisclosed amount of ransom to the attackers to regain access to their files.
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https://nj1015.com/nj-largest-hospital-system-forced-to-pay-ransom-in-cyber-attack
Microsoft SharePoint, Nationwide
January 2020:
The FBI reported that two municipalities were hacked through their Microsoft SharePoint Servers. The servers were hacked through an exploit which was patched in an update that the municipalities failed to install. The criminals stole information, modified access permissions, and gave themselves remote access to the servers.
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East Greenwich Town Government, RI
December 8, 2019:
A cyberattack in East Greenwich knocked out some of the town's computer network with ransomware. The town had to sever its Internet connection until it could figure out how to fix the problem and get back online.
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Livingston School District
November 25, 2019:
Livingston School District faced a ransomware attack which affected 6,000 students and nine schools, causing a delayed opening. Data was not stolen or lost but certain information was inaccessible. Administrators were able to recover some of their systems but were still not able to access them all.
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https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2019/11/25/livingston-schools-ransomware/
Union County
November 14, 2019:
An attack in Union County was noticed around 6 a.m., targeting employees’ emails, which were restored two days later. The attack started on Saturday but went unnoticed until Tuesday due to a holiday break. It is unclear how email services were restored or if a ransom was paid.
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Morris County
November 14, 2019:
Morris County municipal computers were hit with ransomware called “Ryuk." No data or information was altered or destroyed from any of the servers. Consultants were able to remove the virus without having to pay a ransom. The hack affected the system network for municipal computers.
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Watertown School District
November 6, 2019:
Watertown School District in Connecticut is dealing with a ransomware attack that was discovered on the 31st of October. Officials found the hack quickly and it does not seem there was any breach of confidential information.
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Sag Harbor School District
November 5, 2019:
The small Sag Harbor School District had its server and computer systems disabled due to a cyber hack. Administrators are working to see if any data was compromised. This isn't the first time this year a Long Island school district has been hit with a cyberattack. Rockville Center District had to pay $90,000 for stolen data.
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Cherry Hill School District
October 7, 2019:
Cherry Hill school district was hit by a ransomware attack which is suspected to be the work of “Ryuk,” which is associated with a criminal organization that demands ransomware payments to unlock affected computer systems. Emails could not be sent or received during this period. It lasted more than a week.
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Sherman School in Fairfield County
September 4, 2019:
Sherman School in Fairfield County discovered ransomware on the school's computer system on August 16th. State officials investigated the cyberattack as numerous other schools in Middletown, Wallingford, New Haven, Pomfret, and Wolcott were victims of a ransomware attack.
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Orange County
September 4, 2019:
A school in Orange County, New York was set to have its first day of school on September 4th, however, a cybersecurity threat has pushed back that starting date to at least the next day. The district said that it wants to make sure that the first day will go smoothly and believes that this extra day will allow for that to happen.
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https://thecrimereport.org/2019/09/04/cybercriminals-attacking-schools-governments-with-ransomware/
Long Island
August 26, 2019:
A Long Island School District, Rockville Centre, was forced to pay almost $100,000 due to a ransomware attack. The attack affected data and that encrypted files across their servers, interfering with work.
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Mineola School District
August 23, 2019:
Mineola School District in Nassau County was struck with a “Ryuk” virus attack which is designed to encrypt all files and backup files to secure the need to pay the ransom. Luckily for the school district, the backups were able to be restored because the backup was offline as servers were being worked on.
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https://www.msspalert.com/cybersecurity-breaches-and-attacks/ransomware/ryuk-hits-rockville-centre/
Fort Lauderdale FL
June 19, 2019:
Fort Lauderdale, FL agreed to pay a $600,000 ransom to recover its computer system and encrypted records. The perpetrators took over the city’s system after an employee clicked on a link that installed malware on a computer.
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https://www.apnews.com/0762caec21874fc09741abbdec0f78ab
Ferris High School
Jun 14, 2019:
A Jersey City High School student was able to change attendance records. This was an internal hack at Ferris High School.
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Monroe College
June 10, 2019:
Monroe College, based in Bronx, New York, was hit by a ransomware attack with hackers demanding $2 million in Bitcoin to release encrypted data. Campuses in New York and Florida were impacted.
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Broome County
May 31, 2019:
Broome County government systems fell victim to what is suspected to be a phishing attack in which the personal information of county employees was likely breached. The attack was discovered when county officials realized that employees’ direct deposit information had been changed.
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https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/public-safety/2019/05/31/data-security-breach-broom
Township of Roxbury
May 7, 2019:
The Township of Roxbury was hit by a virus that impacted most computers. It seems that everything was able to be restored from backups and was working the next day. Accessing the computers was done over the weekend so the attack was not caught until Monday.
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https://www.tapinto.net/towns/roxbury/articles/a-virus-hit-roxbury-s-municipal-computers-council-wants-answers e-ny-employee-client-information-risk/1304137001/
Secaucus High School
April 2, 2019:
Two 14-year-old 9th graders were arrested for disabling their high school’s Wi-Fi system, making it impossible to give tests or assign work that required the Internet.
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Lynn Public Schools
March 21, 2019:
A widespread computer virus shut down the Internet in Lynn Public Schools. They had to completely shut off the network leaving teachers with no access to lesson plans or materials that were online. The I.T. department was working very hard to try and come up with a resolution.
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https://www.itemlive.com/2019/03/21/Internet-shut-down-in-lynn-schools-due-to-computer-virus/
Palisades Park
January 30, 2019:
Palisades Park lost nearly $500,000 in fraudulent bank transfers from Mariners Bank after a breach in its accounts.
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Bridgeport Public Schools District
January 7, 2019:
Bridgeport Public Schools District in Fairfield County was hit with a computer network attack by an outside entity that intended to hold district data hostage in exchange for a ransom. Teachers from the district reported some of their information that was not stored in the cloud was compromised.
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https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Bridgeport-Schools-computer-network-hit-by-13515819.php
Galloway Township
November 1, 2018:
Galloway Township NJ schools were affected by a cybersecurity breach. Over 800 school district employees were affected. Login information was compromised and there were two fraudulent wire transfers of $200,000 each.
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New York School Districts
October 4, 2018:
A US Senator requested federal aid after school networks were targeted. Repeated DDoS attacks directed at the Central New York Regional Information Center disrupted Internet connectivity, causing huge problems and disruptions to teaching and learning for dozens of school districts across central New York.
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Middletown School District
June 29, 2018:
In Middletown School District in Middlesex County, a ransomware virus locked staff out of the computer systems. The school district refused to pay the ransom. The district is now working on determining how the malware was installed.
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University at Buffalo
May 19, 2018:
Thousands of University at Buffalo accounts were hacked with 28 of those accounts being faculty and staff accounts that could access and change information. It is believed that the credentials to these accounts were stolen when the user was tricked into entering them into a malicious website.
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https://www.ubspectrum.com/article/2018/05/ub-logins-stolen-in-data-breach%20
Irvington School District
April 18, 2018:
Irvington School District was hit with a breach of security with the partial social security numbers of more than 1,200 current and former teachers being compromised.
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http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2018/04/partial_social_security_numbers_for_1200_school_em.html
Massachusetts School District
April 14, 2018:
Affected by ransomware and unable to restore its own technology systems after several weeks had passed, a Massachusetts school district took the advice of local law enforcement and paid extortionists to regain access to email services, school lunch payment services, and the districts own website.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpRySYis14c
Syracuse School District
April 13, 2018:
A cyberattack targeted a school district in Syracuse, OCM BOCES district, disrupting 25,000 students taking an ELA assessment. The attack shut down the network and forced a reschedule of the tests. No data was stolen, but the attack did create a large amount of cleanup for technicians who are working to restore and stabilize the connection for the rescheduled testing.
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https://cnycentral.com/news/local/cyber-attacks-affects-thousands-of-cny-students
Buffalo Public Schools
March 24, 2018:
A Denial-of-Service attack hit Buffalo Public Schools network. The attack caused problems for the district for about a day. It is believed the hackers are from overseas.
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Portland in Middlesex County
March 15, 2018:
The town of Portland in Middlesex County was targeted for the second time in two weeks by a ransomware attack. The IT department, local support company, and forensic engineer worked to mitigate the problem. There were minimal disruptions thanks to swift action. The police department was notified of this cybercrime.
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Texas School District
March 1, 2018:
A targeted phishing attack led to identity theft and tax fraud. A scammer pretending to be the superintendent was able to get copies of W-2 tax forms for all district employees.
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Pennsylvania Department of Education
February 22, 2018:
Human error put the information of every teacher at risk when the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Teacher Information Management System (TIMS), which holds the personal information of 330,000 school staff across the state, was potentially compromised.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=Joq8iDZFarI&feature=emb_title
Connecticut School Districts
February 6, 2018:
Five school districts were affected in cyberattacks in Connecticut. Avon Public Schools District was hacked with DDoS attacks, which brought down the Internet. Wallingford School District fell victim to spear phishing scheme in which “W-2” forms infected servers with viruses.