Secondary school hit by cyber attack
‘SOPHISTICATED’ HACKING LED TO ONLINE CLASSES BEING AFFECTED
A SECONDARY school in has been hit by a “sophisticated” cyber attack.
Melton Vale Sixth Form College in Melton was affected by the online attack last Wednesday.
The school was one of 15 schools and education centres which are part of the Nova Education Trust which were targeted.
The attack caused the schools to have no access to “usual modes of communication”, such as email, phones and their websites.
The Nova Education Trust brought in “cyber experts” to help analyse the attack.
The Trust said it worked with its IT recovery operation around the clock to restore access to email and remote learning platforms, which allowed teachers to resume online lessons for students.
At this point, there is no indication to suggest that any personal data was breached as a result of the cyber attack.
The trust is continuing to work with experts from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and the National Crime Agency to evaluate the origin of the attack and expedite the recovery process.
The central IT team and on-site technicians worked throughout the weekend, aiming to ensure that IT provision was in place.
A NCSC spokesman said: “We are aware of this incident and are working with the Nova Education Trust and law enforcement partners to fully understand its impact. We work closely with the education sector and we have published practical resources to help schools improve their cyber security and response to cyber incidents.”
The Mercury has contacted Melton Vale Sixth Form College for a comment, but had not received a reply by the time we went to press last night.