RICHMOND, Mich. – Winter break has been extended for students in the Richmond Community Schools district -- Thursday and Friday’s classes have been canceled.
Officials with the district said several of its servers were attacked by ransomware over the holiday break. School systems -- including heating, printers, telephones and other classroom technology -- have been affected.
ORIGINAL STORY: ‘This virus affected critical operating systems’ -- Ransomware closes Richmond school district
“The information on our system has been encrypted and there was a ransonware asking for bitcoins for the release,” said RCS superintendent Brian Walmsley.
Engineers unplugged each computer as a safety precaution while they worked to get everything restored from the backup.
“We discovered it on the 27th of December and we shut down everything immediately,” Walmsley said.
Officials insist private information is not at risk and is not accessible by the suspected hacker through the ransomware.
“Student information, which is in PowerSchool, and staff information, which is housed in AS400; is all on the county wide servers,” said superintendent Brian Walmsley. “None of that information was affected because it’s housed over at the county.”
School is expected to be resumed normally Monday.
The district posted on its website the following statement:
Over the holiday break, several district servers were “attacked” by a Ransomware virus. This virus has affected critical operating systems in the district, including but not limited to heating, telephones, copiers, and classroom technology.
District personnel and network server contractors have been working to resolve the problem. No student or staff information has been compromised. However, it is a very time-consuming process and is not expected to be completed by Thursday.
In an effort to give parents as much notice as possible, SCHOOL WILL BE CLOSED on Thursday, January 2nd and Friday, January 3rd for a building problem.