LAUSD receives ransom demand two weeks after cyberattack
About two weeks after a cyberattack on Los Angeles Unified School District's computer systems, officials say they have received a ransom demand.
The district says they have not responded to the ransom demand, in accordance with the FBI's advice. District officials did not give details about what was demanded as ransom.
Immediately after the breach was detected on Labor Day weekend, LAUSD officials said they were confident that sensitive information like Social Security numbers were not taken – however, student information like grade or disciplinary records may have been stolen.
"I'm a little scared because, you know, we don't want them to have access to our kids school records," parent Diana Ruiz said.
Superintendent Alberto Carvalho says the hackers accessed the MSIS system, which contains student information.
"We believe some of the data that was accessed may have students names, some degree of attendance data, but more than likely lacks personally identifiable information or very sensitive health information or Social Security number information," Carvalho said.
The district, the second largest in the country, deactivated several computer systems immediately after the cyberattack. All students, staff, and employees were required to change their passwords.
The district says they haven't seen any new security breaches since then, but are still working on making repairs and malware could still pop up down the line.
