Texas school district cancels classes after ransomware attack

State of play: The Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District — 80 miles west of San Antonio — canceled classes this week as it investigates a ransomware attack.

• The attack has "severely" affected the district systems that control the phones, AC controls, camera monitoring, visitor management and more, according to a Facebook post on Saturday.
• The school district originally said classes were canceled through Thursday, but subsequent Facebook posts suggested the closures may last the whole week. A spokesperson was not immediately available to clarify.

What they're saying: "A comprehensive investigation is underway to uncover the source of the malware and assess whether any sensitive information has been compromised," Anne Marie Espinoza, chief of communications and human capital officer for the school district, said in the post. "Completing these investigations is essential before we can start recovering our systems."

• The school district has enlisted the help of the FBI, its cyber insurance provider and other agencies to investigate the attack.
• The FBI said in an email to Axios that it's aware of the incident and is assisting local law enforcement.

Between the lines: School closures are becoming an increasingly common part of ransomware recovery for school districts — especially at the start of a new academic year.

• Last September, Highline Public Schools outside of Seattle canceled classes due to a cyberattack.

What to watch: The scope of the attack appears to be broad so far, but investigators should have more details soon as they start to kick the hackers out of their networks.

• The ransomware gang behind the attack will likely reveal itself in the coming weeks on the dark web if the school doesn't pay a ransom.

Go deeper: Hackers start leaking New Orleans sheriff ransomware data