Providence public schools struggling with system outages after 'irregular activity'
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The Providence Public School District (PPSD), which serves over 20,000 students across 37 schools, has been grappling with internet outages since September 11, 2024, following the discovery of "irregular activity" on their network.
The network shutdown has caused widespread disruptions, cutting off internet access across all schools and offices within the district. Classes have continued, and the district has implemented contingency plans, such as distributing instructional materials that do not require internet access and securing hotspots for essential services at school offices.
PPSD has declined to confirm whether the incident involves a ransomware attack or any specific cyberattack, but the district has engaged law enforcement, including the Rhode Island State Police, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security, to investigate the issue.
The Medusa ransomware gang, has claimed responsibility for the attack on PPSD, but the district has not officially addressed this claim.
Update - as of 25th of September 2024, the hackers allegedly released 201 GB of sensitive data after the district failed to pay a $1 million ransom. The leaked data includes details like incident reports on VPN issues, project documents, administrative files, and critical infrastructure documents.
As of 11th of November 2024, Providence Public Schools has disclosed confirmed the significant data breach caused by the incident, exposing sensitive information of both students and employees.
The compromised student information includes:
- names,
- school and home addresses,
- program participation details,
- special-education status,
- Individualized Education Programs (IEPs),
- immunization records,
- driver's license numbers.
- information about student medications
The breach has also affected approximately 12,000 current and former employees, whose personal information including names, addresses, and Social Security numbers may have been accessed.
PPSD has emphasized that their school security systems and protocols remain active, and communication with parents is being maintained through the ParentSquare platform, which operates on a separate cloud-based system unaffected by the network issues.
There are ongoing challenges such as difficulties with printers and accessing curricula and the district has not provided a timeline for when full internet access will be restored.
