A cyberattack has made 15 schools in Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom, incapable of providing online learning. All of the schools involved are members of the Nova Education Trust cooperative.
According to the local news website NottinghamshireLive, many schools announced the incident on social media on Wednesday, March 3.
As per Nova Education Trust, a malicious hacker gained access to the trust's central IT infrastructure. They also decided to halt all existing communication via phone, email, and website.
“This has resulted in the temporary shutdown of all the trust’s IT systems as a security precaution, whilst the incident is being investigated by the central IT team to determine the origin of the attack and its potential impact,” said the Nova Education Trust.
Due to the main cybersecurity attack, teachers were unable to upload instructional materials for students learning at home.
To minimize the effect of the interruption, some schools have resorted to alternative methods, such as using temporary phone numbers, SMS messages, and Microsoft Teams.
In England, students are still studying remotely. Schools are scheduled to reopen on March 8. However, only a limited number of children are physically attending school.
IT teams are also trying to rebuild the trust's infrastructure days later. While it is unknown who is to behind the attack, the incident demonstrates how centralized IT infrastructures, when breached, may have a cascading effect that influences all institutions that depend on them.
Nova Education Trust stated that "The incident has been reported to the Department for Education and the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), and the trust is currently working with the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and additional security professionals to resolve the matter."
The organization also added, "All trust employees have been advised to take the necessary precautions."
An NCSC spokesperson said, “The NCSC works closely with the education sector and we have published practical resources to help schools improve their cybersecurity and response to cyber incidents."
The Nova Education Trust schools affected by the cyberattack incident are the following:
- Birklands School, Warsop
- Firbeck Academy, Wollaton
- Kirk Hallam Community Academy, Ilkeston
- Meden School, Mansfield
- Melton Vale Sixth Form College, Melton Mowbray
- Newark Academy, Newark
- Nottingham Free School, Sherwood
- Nottingham University Academy of Science and Technology (NUAST), Dunkirk
- Nottingham University Samworth Academy, Bilborough
- Robert Miles Infant School, Bingham
- The Suthers School, Newark
- The Garibaldi School, Mansfield
- Toot Hill School, Bingham
- Victoria Primary School, The Meadows
- Westdale Junior School, Mapperley
