BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Buffalo Public Schools were forced to cancel remote learning Friday because of a ransomware attack, the district said.
The attackers had not made any demands by late Friday afternoon as the FBI and district experts investigated.
“We are in the midst of an investigation to determine what has occurred, what is the scope of the problem, how much time will it take to fix it and what is required to fix it,” Superintendent Kriner Cash said at a news conference.
He said the problem could force the cancellation of school Monday, when the district is scheduled to bring more students back in to buildings as part of a phased return to in-person learning. Most of the district’s 30,000 students have been learning remotely since the coronavirus shut down buildings last March.
Schools have increasingly become targets of cyber attacks with the widespread adoption of education technology.
The FBI has said schools are attractive targets because they hold sensitive data and provide critical public services.
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