Cyber criminals infiltrated Merced County schools, costing districts thousands of dollars. Here’s how officials responded
Most of the incidents involved ransomware, a malicious software used by criminals to encrypt files and hold information or data hostage until payment is made in exchange
By VICTOR A. PATTON
victor@cvlocaljournalism.org
International cyber criminals have successfully targeted Merced County schools, compromising internal data and forcing some districts to pay a hefty price to get those attacks resolved.
Steve Tietjen, the county’s superintendent of schools, said a total of six Merced County school districts have been victims of cyber criminals in the last three years.
In some cases, cyber criminals threatened to leak compromised data to the public unless they were paid.
“These attacks are driven by people from outside our country,” Tietjen said. “These are not just domestic hackers looking for an easy payday. These are international criminals that are attacking our school systems.”’
Most of those incidents involved ransomware, a malicious software used by criminals to encrypt files and hold information or data hostage until payment is made in exchange.
Read the rest of this story at The Merced FOCUS website.
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