Regina Public Schools remain offline, cyber attack confirmed
Cyber security attacks happen every day, and as Regina Public Schools division discovered this week, no one is safe.
Experiencing a hack on May 22, 2022, the board released a statement on Twitter, saying in part:
“As a result of this attack, the school division has taken its systems offline in order to assess the nature and scope of the attack and to ensure that the school division’s systems can be safely brought back online. When the school division noticed the suspicious activity on its systems, it took immediate action, suspending all affected systems and securing them to mitigate any impact to data and operations.”
In a statement, the Ministry of Education added:
“The Government of Saskatchewan is aware that Regina Public Schools experienced a cybersecurity attack and it is our understanding that the division is taking appropriate steps to get the IT system back online safely with support from cybersecurity professionals, and will investigate the attack appropriately.”
This is not the first cyber attack the province has experienced in a major sector over the past two years. The Health sector and SLGA were both targets, and Cyber Security expert, Brennen Schmidt, said it is because the focus is not where it needs to be.
“We hear time and time again that budget restraints are top of mind, government is very, very focused on economic recovery, and unfortunately these kinds of scenarios put a full stop to that kind of recovery,” said Schmidt.
“Saskatchewan’s economic future is going to be dependant on how we shore up defences and invest strategically so we don’t have bad actors continuing to do this,” he added.
At this time, the Regina Public Schools division could not confirm the depths of the breach, nor what information was leaked.
The Twitter post says they will continue to update the public via Facebook and Twitter, while emails and school portals remain offline.
Parents are asked to call into schools for any student service needs.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their “extremely dangerous” experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Half of Canadians have negative opinion of latest Liberal budget: poll
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
Teacher shortages see some Ontario high school students awarded perfect grades on midterm exams
Students at a high school in York Region have been awarded perfect marks on their midterm exams in three subjects – not because of their academic performances however, but because they had no teacher.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.
Her fiance has been in prison for 49 years. She's trying to free him before it’s too late
She was lying in bed on a Thursday morning, thinking about the man she loved, hoping to win his freedom before time ran out.