Somerset County Public Schools

Two Somerset County school districts were the targets of suspected cyber attacks on April 2021.

Schools in both Hillsborough and Bernards were closed for a day after cyber attacks were suspected.

A school board meeting scheduled in Hillsborough also was canceled.

The Associated Press claimed that a criminal organisation encrypted district data and demanded $40 million in ransom before erasing files and disclosing students' and staff' private information online.

The district offered to pay $500,000 after two weeks of negotiations, at which point the hackers allegedly halted negotiations, according to screenshots taken by the hackers.

Early in March, the district's computer system was briefly knocked down by ransomware, but classes were not affected.

Source: https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/education/2021/04/14/hillsborough-bernards-nj-school-districts-report-cyber-attacks/7204033002/

TPRM report: https://scoringcyber.rankiteo.com/company/somerset-county-public-schools

"id": "som03318923",
"linkid": "somerset-county-public-schools",
"type": "Ransomware",
"date": "04/2021",
"severity": "100",
"impact": "5",
"explanation": "Attack threatening the organization’s existence"

{'affected_entities': [{'industry': 'Education',
                        'location': 'Hillsborough, Somerset County',
                        'name': 'Hillsborough School District',
                        'type': 'Educational institution'},
                       {'industry': 'Education',
                        'location': 'Bernards, Somerset County',
                        'name': 'Bernards School District',
                        'type': 'Educational institution'}],
 'data_breach': {'data_encryption': True,
                 'data_exfiltration': True,
                 'personally_identifiable_information': True,
                 'type_of_data_compromised': 'Private information'},
 'date_detected': 'April 2021',
 'description': 'Two Somerset County school districts were the targets of '
                'suspected cyber attacks in April 2021. Schools in both '
                'Hillsborough and Bernards were closed for a day after cyber '
                'attacks were suspected. A school board meeting scheduled in '
                'Hillsborough was also canceled. The Associated Press claimed '
                'that a criminal organisation encrypted district data and '
                'demanded $40 million in ransom before erasing files and '
                "disclosing students' and staff' private information online. "
                'The district offered to pay $500,000 after two weeks of '
                'negotiations, at which point the hackers allegedly halted '
                'negotiations, according to screenshots taken by the hackers. '
                "Early in March, the district's computer system was briefly "
                'knocked down by ransomware, but classes were not affected.',
 'impact': {'data_compromised': "Students' and staff's private information",
            'downtime': 'One day of school closure',
            'operational_impact': 'School board meeting cancellation',
            'systems_affected': 'District computer systems'},
 'motivation': 'Financial gain',
 'ransomware': {'data_encryption': True,
                'data_exfiltration': True,
                'ransom_demanded': '$40 million',
                'ransom_paid': '$500,000'},
 'references': [{'source': 'Associated Press'}],
 'threat_actor': 'Criminal organisation',
 'title': 'Cyber Attacks on Somerset County School Districts',
 'type': 'Ransomware'}