Wallenpaupack Area School District hit with ransomware attack

• Attackers infected Wallenpaupack Area School District’s computer servers with ransomware, encrypting all files contained in the corrupted systems.
• Once the servers went down, the computer screens displayed a message directing the victims to an email address to ask for payment instructions.

What is the issue?

Wallenpaupack Area School District suffered a ransomware attack which forced the school to shut down all 3,000 computers district-wide.

What happened?

Attackers infected Wallenpaupack Area School District’s computer servers with ransomware. Once the servers went down, the computer screens displayed a message directing the victims to an email address to ask for payment instructions.

• The infection encrypted all files contained in the corrupted systems.
• However, the district had most of its files being backed up.

Steven Nalesnik, Director of Wallenpaupack Department of Information Services, told The News Eagle that their central servers that serve the whole district were affected in the attack.

What actions are being taken?

• The school district has hired a security consultant to analyze the incident and recover the encrypted systems.
• They are working to restore Powerschool and all educational programming systems.
• The security consultant along with the district’s IT department will be taking the appropriate measures to improve the security of the district.
• Furthermore, school staff will be trained on how to identify phishing emails that can trick a user to triggering a virus.
• Meanwhile, the FBI CYWTACH team is investigating the incident to determine the source of the attack.