Massachusetts School Pays Hackers – Still Waiting for Data

Leominster Schools of Massachusetts Suffer Ransomware Attack

During the week of April 16,, 2018, hackers infiltrated the networks of Leominster Schools, leaving information inaccessible to student and staff.  On Friday, April 20th, officials decided to pay the $10,000 ransom demands via bitcoin.  Massachusetts officials have stated, as of April 26th, they have yet to gain access to their encrypted data.  Although, school officials believe they will have access to their systems “very soon”, and blame the delay on the digital currency process.

Paying the ransom demand is never a good idea.  They’ve forked out thousands of dollars, and have yet to see a resolution to their problem.  Processing a bitcoin payment shouldn’t take a week.  So, what is the real hold up?  We want to know what you think — will they get their data back?

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Reports have suggested, no personal data of students or staff has been leaked from the systems as a result of this cyber attack.  At this time, the ransomware variant has not been disclosed.

Other Ransomware Attacks

For a list of ransomware attacks that have already taken place in 2018, you may click here. We have also created a map, see below, of the ransomware attacks that have taken place in the U.S.

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