As students return to school across the country, the parents of children studying at Reynella East College have received a letter informing them of the school’s progress in responding to a ransomware attack in June.
“We are looking forward to welcoming children and students back to the college and thank you for your patience, understanding and support following the recent cyber security incident,” the school said in a letter seen by Cyber Daily.
“Significant work has been undertaken to safely restore the college’s ICT environment and prepare for the term. Core school systems have been restored, student devices have been rebuilt or replaced with enhanced security, and teaching and learning will continue as normal as our young people return this week.
“While this update is a positive start to the new term, we recognise the impact this incident has had on our students, staff and families and appreciate your ongoing support as we navigate this complex matter.”
The school also said it had taken steps to limit the publication of data compromised via the incident.
“To further protect our community, the South Australian Supreme Court has issued orders prohibiting the publication, disclosure, transmission, use or further dissemination of data relating to the incident,” the school said.
“These orders form part of a coordinated, whole-of-government response involving the Crown Solicitor’s Office, Office of the Chief Information Officer, and the Department for Education.”
The letter – signed by Reynella East College’s principal – also noted that parents and carers should continue to exercise caution in the wake of the incident, and take steps to keep them and their children safe, including changing passwords, enabling MFA, and being cautious of “unexpected requests for personal information”.
South Australia’s Department for Education has also engaged IDCARE to support parents and carers.
What happened?
Reynella East College initially warned parents of significant disruptions to its network in early June, saying that it had experienced a “cyber security breach impacting all of our school’s computer systems”.
The incident occurred on 9 June, with school systems offline for a week. While the school was still investigating the incident, a ransomware actor claimed responsibility for the hack.
The Interlock ransomware group listed Reynella East College in a 23 June leak post, which said the hackers had exfiltrated a significant amount of school data.
“Reynella East College is an innovative educational institution offering a comprehensive curriculum for students from preschool to 12th grade,” the hackers said.
“However, the school failed to adequately protect the privacy of its students and staff and made no attempt to do so, resulting in the leak of their sensitive personal data online.”
As of the time of writing, the stolen data remains on Interlock’s leak site.
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David Hollingworth
David Hollingworth has been writing about technology for over 20 years, and has worked for a range of print and online titles in his career. He is enjoying getting to grips with cyber security, especially when it lets him talk about Lego.