Allen ISD Officials Say They Stopped Cyberattack & Protected Sensitive Information

COLLIN COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) — Allen Independent School District officials believe an extortion threat is under control without any personal information being compromised.

That was the security threat posed early last week when a group of cyber attackers claimed to have access to the personal information of students, staff, and their family members. The hackers threatened to hold that information in exchange for millions of dollars.

Once authorities got involved, the attackers were not able to prove they had possession of the sensitive data, but the entire disturbance shutdown the district's WiFi, printers, and phone lines for a short time.

North Lamar, Rockwall and Dallas ISDs have also been hit in recent weeks. But to date, no personal information has been released.

Allen ISD officials did not give in to the attempt to extort millions of dollars, but as the CBS 11 I-Team has reported, Republican State Senator Angela Paxton, from McKinney, hopes to curb cyber attacks in Texas schools now that — thanks to a bill she wrote — districts can share intelligence gathered in the investigation process.

Senator Paxton said, "It allows someone to be seeing what's happening everywhere, all over the place, so that they can then get that information back to the districts the you know the schools so they can just be up to date on what to watch for."

In situations of a cybersecurity threat, experts recommend that you keep a close eye on accounts connected to your personal information, and that you act accordingly should you see suspicious activity.