British school closes doors after cyberattack
A school in Nuneaton has temporarily closed its doors due to a cyberattack. As a precautionary measure to prevent further damage, the school's IT systems have been taken completely offline.
Higham Lane School is a secondary school located in a town in central England, with approximately 1,500 students in attendance.
In an email addressed to the student’s parents, Headteacher Michael Gannon states that the school has become the victim of a cyberattack and that all the school’s IT systems and digital services have been taken down, including telephones, emails, servers, and the school’s management system.
To safeguard the well-being of the school’s students and staff members, the Headteacher has decided to close the school.
Initially, the school aimed to open its doors on Tuesday, December 6th. However, Gannon says the school is not yet able to safely welcome its pupils and employees.
“We are working closely with our Central England Academy Trust colleagues to explore ways in which we can start welcoming pupils back as soon as it is safe to do so. Subject to the ongoing work, we are initially planning for a phased return from next Monday, 12th January,” Gannon said in a recent update.
Students are asked to continue with independent study in preparation for their forthcoming exams.
In the meantime, the school is working closely with external agencies to investigate and resolve the issue, including a Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) from the Department of Education and IT experts from the Central England Academy Trust, which runs Higham Lane School.
Students are requested not to access or log into any school systems, including Google Classroom and SharePoint, until further notice.
No details have been shared about the nature and impact of the cyberattack. It remains unclear whether the attack involves ransomware or unauthorized access, or whether the personal data of students or employees has been stolen.
Parents and caretakers will receive an update about the next steps this Friday.
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