Students return to school in Freehold Township following cyber security incident

FREEHOLD, N.J. -- Students returned to class Tuesday in Freehold Township, New Jersey following a cyber security incident. 

The district hired a private security firm to investigate what happened and an outside I.T. team to resolve the issue.

District officials said a "cyber security incident" disrupted access to several essential network systems over the weekend and continues to impact the use of email. 

Students were instructed to watch for anything unusual on their Chromebook laptops and leave them home. All after school activities are canceled Tuesday. 

CBS New York's Natalie Duddridge spent the morning at Clifton Barkalow Middle School, where everything seemed to be up and running again. 

As Duddridge reported, the cyber security concerns started Sunday night. Parents said they received a robo-call and an email saying schools would be closed Monday because of technical difficulties related to a cyber security event. 

The district did not release any other information, but students told CBS New York a software system called Genesis was down and they were told to beware of anything unusual on their laptops.

"I just hope nothing else got out, nothing about the kids' information, our information, because they have all our information," one parent said. 

Officials say schools are frequently targeted in cyber attacks. In fact, it's one of the fastest growing crimes in the nation.