Sep 6, 2022 - Technology

2nd largest U.S. school district hit by ransomware attack

Jacob Knutson

LAUSD superintendent greets students on a school bus — LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho greets students at Vena Avenue Elementary. Photo: David Crane/MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images

The Los Angeles Unified School District said Tuesday it was targeted by a ransomware attack over the weekend but was able to keep its schools open as scheduled despite "significant disruption" to its digital infrastructure.

Why it matters: Los Angeles Unified, the second largest school district in the United States serving over 650,000 students at about 1,000 schools, said it was still experiencing disruptions to its email, computer systems and applications.

What they're saying: "Since the identification of the incident, which is likely criminal in nature, we continue to assess the situation with law enforcement agencies," the school district said.

"Based on a preliminary analysis of critical business systems, employee health care and payroll are not impacted, nor has the cyber incident impacted safety and emergency mechanisms in place at schools," it added.

The big picture: Los Angeles Unified said it benefitted from "an immediate and comprehensive response" from the Department of Education, FBI and the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency after it notified the federal government about the attack over the weekend.

Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said on social media Tuesday that 53,000 of the district's student employees had reset their passwords.

Go deeper: Newest ransomware gang on the block

Add Axios on Google

2nd largest U.S. school district hit by ransomware attack

What to read next