LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – The Clark County School District continues to deal with the fallout of what it described as a “cybersecurity incident” affecting thousands of students and staff.
In a response to 8 News Now, CCSD said it sent employees a message Wednesday afternoon that it is continuing to investigate the incident that is impacting its “email environment.”
“The District continues working with schools to facilitate password changes for students and staff.” The email stated, “Parents can continue to email CCSD staff, but for the time being, employees can only respond when on campus.”
According to sources, the cyber issue is severely hampering Nevada Learning Academy which is CCSD’s virtual-only school, as teachers are having trouble accessing their emails.
There are concerns among staff that students at NVLA will lose the entire week of school, possibly having to make it up in June.
Nevada Learning Academy announced Wednesday that Google Meets, Gmail, and Canvas, which is an online learning program, are not available.
“Schools could be a soft target because they don’t have the resources, because the resources are focused on the children’s education, and not necessarily the security of the institution,” Christopher Warner with GuidePoint Security explained.
Warner added that there are hard and soft targets, such as CCSD, that hackers find easier to break into. But it’s important that leaders act fast.
“Start changing all the passwords, and if it comes down to physically unplugging equipment until they can see where the actual problem is,” Warner said. “Isolate the hack, it’s just good to start shutting everything down.”
CCSD dealt with a cybersecurity breach in 2020, when hackers exposed sensitive information online. At the time, it was reported the district did not pay the hackers’ demands for a ransom.
Below is the full email CCSD sent to staff on Wednesday:
CCSD continues working to investigate the cybersecurity incident impacting its email environment. At this time, CCSD employees and students can only access their District email accounts and associated Google Workspace while connected to the District internet.
The District continues working with schools to facilitate password changes for students and staff. While access is limited to Google Workspace, students can still access homework and assignments through Canvas. Parents can continue to email CCSD staff, but for the time being, employees can only respond when on campus.
