Cyber ​​security accident 'stir in Canadian school board

Cyber ​​security accident 'stir in Canadian school board

One of the country's largest public school boards faced a "cyber security incident" earlier this week that encrypted some files.

The Peel District School Board, which covers the Ontario cities of Mississauga, Brampton, and more than 257 schools serving 155,000 students from kindergarten to class 12th, entered the city of Caledon in a tweet Thursday evening. The district is part of the Peel Region, immediately west of Toronto.

As of last night, there was no evidence that "personal or sensitive information" had been compromised.

The board's website was still unavailable on Friday morning, but it continued with online classes.

"The Peel District School Board is in the process of resuming normal operations after a cyber security incident, resulting in encryption of some PDSB files and systems," the statement said. “The PDSB visual learning environment has not been affected and classes continue as usual. Students and teachers can find login instructions for the virtual learning platform shared by email.

The board says the discovery of the incident occurred on 26 January, with the PDSB enlisting the Peel Police Cyber ​​Security Services to investigate.

“At this stage there is no reason to believe that any personal or sensitive information was compromised as a result of the incident, and we are confident that we will be able to restore the affected systems and files. Should the investigation determine whether personal or sensitive information was at risk, the PDSB would notify affected individuals as soon as possible.

“We apologize for any inconvenience that may have caused the incident and would like to thank the community for their ongoing patience. We appreciate that these are already challenging times for teachers and students, and are grateful to our teachers, parents' students and staff for their adaptability during this event. "