Large School Website Platform Vendor Knocked Offline by Ransomware

Continuing a disturbing trend of the last few years, school website platform provider Finalsite announced in mid-January that it had been hit by a ransomware outage. The attack left the platform unavailable to customers.

Schools have been frequent targets of ransomware in recent years, a doubly disturbing issue in the face of Covid. Schools use their websites to communicate about closures, online learning, and new virus-mitigation protocols. An outage of any scale (Finalsite claims 8,000 schools as customers) could introduce substantial havoc to families and employees already coping with rapidly-shifting conditions during the Omicron outbreak.

In addition, school websites and infrastructure may house personal and sensitive information about students, families, and employees. Ransomware attacks increasingly feature data theft as well as demands for money.  

All businesses, not just schools, remain vulnerable to threat actors. Executives should ensure that their IT infrastructure is up to date and employees trained on best security awareness and practices. Ransomware frequently enters an organization via email phishing, which can be mitigated through a combination of behavioral and technical measures. Having backup access to data is also highly recommended for all enterprises.