Security News > 2022 > September > Ransomware gang hits second-largest US school district
Cybercriminals hit the Los Angeles Unified School District over the holiday weekend with a ransomware attack that temporarily shut down email, computer systems, and applications.
Federal agencies including the FBI and CISA are working on-site to assist the US's second-largest public school district in its response.
"Based on a preliminary analysis of critical business systems, employee healthcare and payroll are not impacted, nor has the cyber incident impacted safety and emergency mechanisms in place at schools," the school district noted in a Monday alert.
The district says it deployed additional IT personnel to assist with technical issues and committed to direct "Any necessary funding" to improve security while developing mandatory security training for all district employees.
Also in response to the ransomware attack, the district says it will convene an independent IT task force charged with developing a set of network security recommendations within 90 days.
Callow noted, Baltimore County Public Schools, a much smaller district with fewer than 200 schools compared to LAUSD's 1,000-plus schools, spent more than $8 million to recover after a ransomware attack.
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