Port Neches-Groves ISD hack seen as lesson for other school districts
As forensic experts worked on Wednesday to restore access to Port Neches-Groves ISD computer files following a crippling cyberattack a day earlier, Superintendent Mike Gonzales said the district may never know whose computer allowed the malware to intrude.
“A student, teacher or administrator can unintentionally and inadvertently open an infected email that triggers ransomware,” he said in a statement emailed to The Enterprise. “We will do our very best to learn from this unpleasant experience and we will use this attack to educate our students and staff about the importance of cybersecurity and the dark web.”
The lesson is growing more urgent as such crimes continue to grow. More than 20 school districts and other public agencies in Texas fell prey to a coordinated ransomware attack in August. One global software company estimated that upward of 50 school districts nationwide have been hit so far this year.
“And that means that’s hundreds and hundreds of schools,” said Kierk Sanderlin, head of engineering for the Israel-based Check Point software company.
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