The Houston County school district is falling behind schedule, as for the second time, a malware attack postpones the beginning of the school year. According to the original plan, children were supposed to return to school at the beginning of August. However, a cyberattack to the centralized school network has forced authorities to postpone classes until 12 August.
For the moment, there are no official statements from school representatives, and families do not have information about what information was affected by the attack. Neither parents nor teachers know if their personal information was accessed. There is also no information about the source of the hack.
This is the second postponement of classes, as initially, the authorities stated that the problem would be resolved in about forty-eight hours. Unfortunately, the consequences were too severe, so classes had to be postponed by another ten days.
Schools are the new targets for malware attacks
Cyberattacks and malware are becoming a significant threat to the educational system. Academic websites and networks have become a preferred target for hackers, as they are real treasure troves. School databases contain the personal information of thousands of individuals at a time.
The current delay in classes in the Houston County school district is only a small part of the possible consequences of malware attacks. Nowadays, personal information is treated as a commodity, as data science develops and makes it more valuable. Unfortunately, school administration systems are easy targets because they often are not appropriately secured.
The recent attack on Lancaster University is another example of a cyberattack on an educational institution. Considering the rise in such attacks, many schools have started updating their software to make it more secure.
