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
Canada to upgrade Latvia battlegroup to a brigade, boost number of troops
Canada has signed an agreement to upgrade the 2,000-soldier battlegroup it leads in Latvia to a brigade, boosting the number of troops and pledging to lead it for at least the next five years.

Mother forced to spend night sleeping on Toronto Pearson floor because of Air Canada delays
A mother of three children is speaking out after spending a night on the floor of Toronto Pearson Airport with her young kids in a nightmare weekend of travel.
Ontario researchers say they've found what causes long-COVID symptoms
Through the use of MRI technology and spearheaded by researchers at Western University, the cause of long COVID symptoms have been identified for the first time.
DEVELOPING | Opioid manufacturer agrees to $150M settlement after class-action lawsuit led by B.C. asks for $60B
British Columbia says a proposed $150-million settlement with Purdue Pharma Canada has been reached for the recovery of health-care costs related to the sale and marketing of opioid-based pain medicines.
NEW | 2 officers undergo surgery, third in hospital after deadly Saanich bank shooting
Police in Saanich, B.C., kept an area near a bank evacuated overnight as they continue to investigate a possible explosive device linked to a deadly gunfight with two suspected bank robbers.
More than half of flights at some Canadian airports getting cancelled, delayed: data
Recent data shows more than half of all flights from some of Canada's major airports are being cancelled or delayed, as frustrations for travellers mount due in part to increased summer travel and not enough airport staff.
Canadians who want a Nexus card will have to travel to U.S. to get it
A Nexus card is supposed to help put low-risk Canadians on the fast track when crossing the U.S. border, but at least 330,000 Canadians aren’t sure when their applications will be processed.
NATO calls Russia its 'most significant and direct threat'
NATO declared Russia the 'most significant and direct threat' to its members' peace and security on Wednesday and vowed to strengthen support for Ukraine, even as that country's leader chided the alliance for not doing more to help it defeat Moscow.
'Crisis level': N.L. faces shortage of psychologists as they leave public system
Access to mental health services is taking a hit in Newfoundland and Labrador as psychologists in the province continue to leave the public system en masse.