Security News > 2023 > January > Iowa’s largest school district cancels classes after cyberattack
Des Moines Public Schools, the largest school district in Iowa, canceled all classes on Tuesday after taking all networked systems offline in response to "Unusual activity" detected on its network one day before.
"Because many technology tools that support both classroom learning as well as the management and operation of the school district are not available at this time, the prudent decision is to close the district for the day."
As Iowa's largest school district, Des Moines Public Schools has more than 5,000 employees and enrolls more than 31,000 students from preschool through high school in over 60 schools.
While the nature of the incident is yet to be revealed, other Iowa school districts, including the Cedar Rapids Community School District, the Davenport Community School District, and the Linn-Mar Community School District, have been targeted in recent ransomware attacks in 2022, according to Des Moines Register.
One of the victims was the Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest school district in the United States, in an attack claimed by the Vice Society ransomware gang, which also leaked data stolen from LAUSD's network one month later.
Attacks on the education sector, have had a massive impact on school and university operations, from restricted access to data and their networks, delayed exams and canceled school days to the theft of personal information belonging to school staff and students.