Hackers knock Richmond schools offline, deface teachers laptops with ransom threats
The attack disrupted Wi-Fi, cameras, PowerSchool, Chromebooks, and other classroom systems, although schools remained open.
Richmond Public Schools Safe School Zone sign. Image by ArtByArthur | Shutterstock
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- Richmond Public Schools took its network offline after ransom notes appeared on staff laptops.
- Hackers claim they stole sensitive information, but the district has not confirmed data theft.
- Schools remained open, with limited access to phones, email, Wi-Fi, cameras, and PowerSchool.
- Data on 22,000 students across more than 50 Richmond schools are now at risk.
Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.
Richmond Public Schools in Virginia are forced offline Wednesday after hackers deface teachers' laptops with ransom demands and threaten to leak an unknown amount of sensitive data if the district doesn't pay up.
K-12 Schools in the state's capital began announcing the “divisionwide network outage” on their websites around 1:30 p.m. ET Wednesday, also notifying student families through the district’s ParentSquare platform feed.
Richmond Public Schools is currently experiencing a temporary network disruption. Our Technology Services team is working to address the issue,Richmond Public School stated in a public announcement.
The district first became aware of the attack Wednesday morning after employees reportedly discovered threatening messages splashed across their district-issued laptops.
Apparently, the hackers claimed they broke into the network, stole an unknown amount of sensitive information, and are now threatening to publish the data unless the district contacts them.
The ransomware group responsible for the breach has not been named so far.
How it all started
At 7:00 a.m. ET, parents and school employees were emailed instructions not to log into devices or platforms or connect to the district’s network while the technology issue was being investigated.
By the afternoon, another email warning of an attack and subsequent system shutdown was sent to all teachers and staff, according to Virginia’s local PBS affiliate, VPM News.
Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras also put out a statement to say that "the network was temporarily taken offline as a precaution" and to help the remediation process.
Even though Kamras warned of “limited phone and email service, as well as access to online classroom tools and learning platforms,” school was not canceled, and teachers were “adjusting lessons and activities as needed.”
School is proceeding as scheduled. The incident is not affecting the safety of students or staff,Richmond Public Schools Superintendent Jason Kamras said in a statement.
Sources told VPM that the attack had also impacted the district’s Wi-Fi network, cameras, and the PowerSchool education portal, while students are unable to use their school-issued Chromebooks.
It was also reported that teachers were blocked from accessing attendance records, making copies, writing passes, or using their smart boards.
"We understand that these disruptions create challenges for our entire school community. Our priorities are supporting our students and staff, understanding what happened, and restoring affected systems securely," Kamras said.
The district has not confirmed the theft of any data as of Wednesday evening.
