Manassas City Public Schools (MCPS)

Manassas City Public Schools (MCPS) experienced a **cybersecurity incident** resulting in **connectivity disruptions and phone outages** across its entire school system. The attack forced a **full closure of all schools on Monday, November 10**, as a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of students, teachers, and staff. While the superintendent confirmed that school campuses were not physically at risk, the incident disrupted operations, requiring collaboration between the internal IT team and external cybersecurity experts to **secure and restore systems**.The outage impacted administrative functions, communication channels, and likely digital learning tools, causing **operational paralysis** for at least one full school day. With Tuesday already a scheduled holiday, the district aimed to reopen by Wednesday, November 12, pending further assessments. The incident highlights vulnerabilities in critical public infrastructure, where **service disruptions** can have cascading effects on education, parent-staff coordination, and emergency response protocols. No explicit mention of data breaches or ransom demands was made, but the **system-wide shutdown** suggests a severe compromise of IT infrastructure, potentially affecting thousands of students and employees.

Source: https://wjla.com/news/local/virginia-prince-william-county-manassas-city-public-schools-close-on-monday-due-to-cyberattack-cyber-security-hack-hackers-threat-kevin-newman-mcps

Manassas City Public Schools Education Foundation cybersecurity rating report: https://www.rankiteo.com/company/manassas-city-public-schools-education-foundation

"id": "man2902029111025",
"linkid": "manassas-city-public-schools-education-foundation",
"type": "Cyber Attack",
"date": "11/2025",
"severity": "100",
"impact": "5",
"explanation": "Attack threatening the organization’s existence"

{'affected_entities': [{'industry': 'Education',
                        'location': 'Manassas, Virginia, USA',
                        'name': 'Manassas City Public Schools (MCPS)',
                        'type': 'Public School District'}],
 'customer_advisories': 'School closure announced to families and staff via '
                        'Facebook; expected reopening communicated for '
                        'November 12, 2023',
 'date_publicly_disclosed': '2023-11-09',
 'description': 'Manassas City Public Schools (MCPS) experienced a '
                'cybersecurity incident causing connectivity disruptions and '
                'phone outages across the school system. As a precautionary '
                'measure, all schools were closed on Monday, November 10, to '
                'ensure safety and allow IT teams and external cybersecurity '
                'experts to secure and restore systems. Schools were expected '
                'to reopen on Wednesday, November 12, following a previously '
                'scheduled holiday on Tuesday, November 11.',
 'impact': {'brand_reputation_impact': 'Potential concern due to school '
                                       'closure and public disclosure',
            'downtime': 'At least 1 day (school closure on November 10, 2023)',
            'operational_impact': 'Full closure of all MCPS schools on '
                                  'November 10, 2023',
            'systems_affected': ['Connectivity systems', 'Phone systems']},
 'investigation_status': 'Ongoing (as of November 9, 2023)',
 'references': [{'date_accessed': '2023-11-09',
                 'source': 'Facebook post by Dr. Kevin Newman (MCPS '
                           'Superintendent)'}],
 'response': {'communication_strategy': 'Public announcement via Facebook by '
                                        'Superintendent Dr. Kevin Newman, with '
                                        'commitment to regular updates',
              'incident_response_plan_activated': True,
              'remediation_measures': 'Collaboration between internal IT and '
                                      'external cybersecurity experts to '
                                      'secure and restore systems',
              'third_party_assistance': True},
 'stakeholder_advisories': 'Public announcement via Facebook; commitment to '
                           'regular updates for families and staff',
 'title': 'Cybersecurity Incident at Manassas City Public Schools (MCPS) '
          'Leading to School Closures',
 'type': 'Cybersecurity Incident (Connectivity Disruption)'}