It has been a few weeks since the cyber incident that disrupted our ability to have school for two days. We’ve been working on this since then with the help of outside experts. Today, I want to provide a brief update on where we are and what has been happening.
Thanks to the hard work of our technology team, systems are now back up and running. I am very grateful for the team’s around-the-clock efforts to restore the tools we rely on every day to keep our school operations running.
As we restored systems, we have been working with a forensics team to investigate. We have also consulted with other districts and entities that have experienced similar situations. We are grateful for their outreach and support.
At this time, the forensics team has identified and addressed how outside actors gained access to our systems. While we have always followed industry best practices, we have also completed a full review of our practices. Over the last few weeks, we have implemented additional measures on top of current industry standards to make sure we are doing all we can at this time to protect our systems and data.
At this stage of the investigation, there is no evidence that any data has been misused. We continue to work with a team that includes outside experts. If they determine personal information was involved, we will contact affected individuals directly with clear guidance for next steps.
We are sharing what we’ve learned with Minnesota state officials and FBI. The state team reviews situations like ours and helps organizations continuously update their practices to better protect their systems. You may have heard about other recent data security incidents across the region, state and our local area. By sharing information, we hope to help other organizations stay prepared as cyber threats continue to change.
Working with experienced cybersecurity partners, we understand this process takes time. We appreciate your patience and support.
Jeff Ronneberg, Ed. D.
Superintendent
