Highline Public Schools school district suspended its activities following a cyberattack

Highline Public Schools, a school district in Washington state, remains closed following a cyberattack that occurred two days ago.

Two days ago Highline Public Schools (HPS), a school district in Washington state, suffered a cyber attack that caused a significant disruption of its activities.

Highline Public Schools (HPS) is a public school district in King County, headquartered in Burien, Washington, it serves more than 18,000 students.

The HPS took critical systems offline in response to the security incident.   

“We have detected unauthorized activity on our technology systems and have taken immediate action to isolate critical systems. We are working closely with third-party, state and federal partners to safely restore and test our systems.” reads the first statement published by the school district on Monday. 

“We understand this comes as an unexpected disruption, particularly on the eve of the first day of kindergarten for many of our families. We recognize the burden this decision places on both families and staff, but student safety is our top priority, and we cannot have school without these critical systems in place.”

Two days later, the Washington state school district is still closed due to the unavailability of its IT systems.

Following the cyberattack, the school district announced the closure of its facilities and the temporary suspension of all activities, including athletics and meetings.

“All schools will remain closed on Tuesday, September 10. All school activities, athletics and meetings are canceled. Central office will be open.” reads the statement published by the HPS on its website. “Our investigation into unauthorized activity on our technology systems is ongoing, and critical systems are still offline. We understand canceling school is a significant disruption for our families and staff, but student safety remains our top priority.”

The HPS did not provide details about the attack, however, the measures adopted in response to the incident suggest it was the victim of a ransomware attack. At this time, no cybercrime group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Unfortunately, school districts are privileged targets of cybercrime groups due to the huge amount of date they manage.

In March 2024, schools in Scranton, Pennsylvania, experienced a ransomware attack, resulting in IT outages. In September 2022, one of the US largest School districts, the Los Angeles Unified School District, suffered a ransomware attack.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(SecurityAffairs – hacking, Education)