UK’s Higham Lane School Cyberattack Forces Closure, Impacts Telephones, Emails, Servers
Published
Key Takeaways
- Incident Confirmation: Higham Lane School confirmed it was hit by a cyberattack that has disabled all major IT systems, including telephones and emails.
- School Closure: As a precautionary measure and to facilitate investigation, the school was closed to all pupils and staff on Monday and Tuesday.
- System Access Restriction: All students and staff have been instructed not to log into any school systems, including Google Classroom and SharePoint.
Higham Lane School has initiated a comprehensive cybersecurity response following a cyberattack that has severely impacted its IT infrastructure. The incident, which was first communicated to parents and carers on January 3, has taken down all digital services, including the school's telephone lines, email servers, and management systems.
As a result, the school decided to close its doors for two days to allow for a thorough investigation and to begin system restoration procedures.
Google Classroom, SharePoint Restricted
With the school IT systems breach, all staff and students have been explicitly instructed to refrain from accessing any school-related digital platforms. “As a matter of precaution, we are requesting that students do not log into any school systems, including Google Classroom and SharePoint, until further notice,” the school said.
The U.K. school has directed students to safe, external educational resources such as BBC Bitesize and Oak National Academy, which do not require school logins. The school administration is committed to providing regular updates and expects to remain shut until Wednesday.
Multi-Agency Investigation Underway
In response to the Higham Lane School cyberattack, the administration is collaborating with several external agencies, including a Cyber Incident Response Team from the Department for Education (DFE) and IT experts from the school's Multi Academy Trust, the Central England Academy Trust.
The school has also engaged its insurers and is working with the Local Authority Data Protection Officer (DPO) to ensure all legal obligations regarding a potential data breach are met, including reporting to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as required.
The primary focus is on preserving the integrity of the network and gathering evidence to prevent future incidents.
The Higham Lane School cyberattack is the latest in a string of intrusions targeting the educational sector. Last month, Japanese School Yokosuka Gakuin confirmed a ransomware attack claimed by Rhysida, while the University of Phoenix was impacted by an Oracle EBS exploit.
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