Vt. (WCAX) – A southern Vermont school system declined to pay a ransom following a recent cyberattack that compromised staff records and business documents
In September, the Slate Valley Unified School District fell victim to a cybersecurity breach. Officials say hackers accessed business documents and employees’ personal information.
The district says it also received a ransom demand threatening to release the compromised data, but the school board — with the guidance of legal counsel — opted not to pay. District leaders say they had to adapt without many of their core online systems.
“The one thing we did not want to do is cancel school. So, we all pulled together; we have had workarounds for every different scenario and made it work. It wasn’t easy, it wasn’t ideal,” said SVUUSD Superintendent Brooke Olsen-Farrell, who added that the ransom amount was “substantial.”
The district does not believe any student data was leaked. Officials say they continue to work with law enforcement and are notifying individuals impacted by the cyberattack.
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