Cybercriminals are targeting more school districts, even small ones like Newhall

Small school districts aren’t the fattest of targets for cybercriminals, but they also tend to be easier prey than big districts and businesses with larger IT departments. Those small districts include the Newhall School District in Santa Clarita, whose cyberattack last fall crippled the 6,000-student elementary district for about a week, while sidelining its 310 teachers from leading distance learning.

As profiled by CalMatters, the ransomware assault knocked out the district’s computer network by installing encrypted software through the internet. Newhall was one of more than two dozen school districts and universities in California attacked by cybercriminals in the past five years — though the unreported numbers could be bigger. Victims include Visalia Unified, Rialto School District in San Bernardino, Sierra College and the University of California, according to Seculore Solutions, a software company based in Maryland.

Cyberattacks have sharply increased during the pandemic as schools and businesses moved more operations online. Because they rely on open WiFi networks to share software, school districts are “low-hanging fruit,” software researcher Andrew Brandt told CalMatters writer Zayna Syed.

Newhall’s four-person IT department had taken basic precautions, like installing internal firewalls to ward off computer viruses, that proved inadequate. Because the district had cyber insurance, an advanced network and security company helped to retrieve files. The FBI discourages paying ransom and Newhall Superintendent Jeff Pelzel declined to tell CalMatters if the district paid it. But he did say that the teachers’ lesson plans and other intellectual property were a factor in the decision. It took a week to get back online and months before all operations were back to normal.

The California Department of Education only recently began expanding its work helping districts with cybersecurity issues, CalMatters reported.