Interboro School District in Philadelphia suburbs targeted by cybercriminals, sources say
An investigation is underway to determine if cybercriminals are responsible for the network issues at the Interboro School District. The school district serves students from Norwood, Glenolden, Tinicum and Prospect Park.
Glenolden Borough Manager Brian Razzi said he knew there was a problem when he got a pre-recorded phone call from the Interboro School District on Monday, Oct. 28. His son is a first grader in the district.
"I heard there was a network outage and computer issues that affected the day-to-day operations of the school district," Razzi said.
On Tuesday, Oct. 29, the school was canceled because of network issues. Razzi said there was no Internet.
"Everything relies on the internet now — the security systems, contact with parents, school records, everything," Razzi said. "I think there was a message about using some kind of Google system they were backed up on, but I haven't experienced any, as a parent, any problems contacting the school and my son says classes are going as they normally do."
While school is back in session, we're learning that the network issues haven't been fully resolved. Several sources confirm to CBS News Philadelphia that a ransomware attack took down the school district's internet outage.
"Schools are not required to report ransomware attacks to the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE)," Erin James, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, said. "We would be happy to assist any district navigating a ransomware attack if assistance is requested."
A solicitor for the Interboro School District released a statement on behalf of the school district:
"Interboro School District recently identified unusual network activity that is impacting the functionality of some of our IT systems.
The district immediately initiated its incident response plan, involving a team of IT specialists to assess the status of our technology systems. We are also undertaking a thorough investigation to understand the nature and scope of the disruption.
Our priorities were returning students and staff safely back in our schools while diligently working to restore our technology systems. Communications were provided to parents and guardians, as well as our dedicated Interboro employees. We sincerely appreciate the cooperation and patience of the Interboro community as we continue to work through this issue."
The FBI is involved, according to sources, but the law enforcement agency said it cannot confirm or deny the existence of an investigation.
"I think the school district is handling the situation the best way it can," Razzi said.