Tigerton schools back in business after cyber attack

Federal law enforcement is looking into why cybercriminals decided to launch a sophisticated ransomware attack on the Tigerton School District recently.

District officials found themselves not able to access its technology systems, including its phones, for several days after the attack was launched on May 11, according to Superintendent Kelly Strike. Because of the extent of the attack, the schools had to close for three days as the district called in specialists to help restore everything to normal.

“Fortunately, our incident response preparedness included maintaining backups of critical district systems from which we are able to restore,” Strike wrote in a statement to parents last week. “Please know that the district did not and will not negotiate with the group that caused this disruption.”

She said in a phone interview with NEW Media that the district works with a number of third-party vendors on issues like information technology, as it only has a part-time IT specialist on staff. With the help of the vendors, the district was partially recovered by May 17 and then on May 18 was fully operational again, according to Strike.

“Everything was down, from phones to internet to operational (systems),” Strike said. “We’re still troubleshooting a little here and there, but for the most part, we’re up and running.”

Strike didn’t know for sure how much the attack is impacting the district financially, but hiring the vendors to resolve the ransomware issues is expected to have some impact.

The investigation is ongoing, and it’s unclear whether the school district was specifically targeted.

lpulaski@newmedia-wi.com