A hacker who hacked into a Nevada school released files containing students' grades and personal information after the school refused to pay a ransom.
Last month, the largest public school district in Las Vegas announced that a hacker had hacked some of its files using ransomware, holding the files hostage and demanding a ransom.
Brett Callow, a threat analyst at cybersecurity firm Emsisoft, told Business Insider that he had discovered leaked documents posted on an online hacking forum that allegedly contained records from Clark County School in Nevada, including Student names, Social Security numbers, addresses and some financial information. The Wall Street Journal published Callow’s findings for the first time on Monday.
Ransomware attacks have increased in recent years, and schools have increased dramatically this fall as more classes and sensitive files move online, as at least 60 school districts and universities in the United States have been targeted by ransomware attacks this year, according to the Emsoft count.
The attacks place their targets between a rock and a hard place, forcing them to choose between paying huge ransoms to criminals or risking leaking personal information to people online. Cybersecurity experts and law enforcement agencies - including the FBI - say that targets should avoid paying ransoms at any cost. In order to miss the opportunity to the intruders.
"Ransomware attacks happen for one reason, and one reason only: they are profitable," Calo said, stressing that the only way to stop them is to make them unprofitable, and this means that organizations should stop paying the ransom.
The county previously revealed that it was attacked by a ransom during its first week of online lessons, and said authorities are investigating the matter.