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Ransomware causes thousands of school websites to crash

Latest Update: 12/10/2023

Ransomware causes thousands of school websites to crash

The website of the Richland School in Washington was attacked by ransomware using a website hosting infrastructure from a supplier company. This company suffered a serious cyberattack that caused thousands of websites to crash. Join VNETWORK to learn an effective website security solution.

School website attack incident

Connecticut-based company Finalsite hosted the Richland school’s website when it discovered the ransomware infection on its servers on January 4, 2022.

Ransomware is a type of malicious software that can prevent users from accessing a business’s computer system, unless they pay a ransom to the hacker.

In order to protect the data of the schools, the company removed all the websites that were being hosted on their systems. The company said:

“Our engineering team took the initiative to do that to protect our customers’ data. We then built a new, more secure environment for these sites.”

The school, which has 13,700 students, lost access to its website as soon as it snowed in the Cities, and students are returning to class after the holidays.

Finding information about COVID, or return to school status, cannot be found through the school website. Secure Website solution has never been an easy problem for IT administrators.

Schools must use social media and messaging services to notify parents of closures and delays for students returning to school due to storms.

This school’s website started construction in 2019 and is hosted on Finalsite’s infrastructure. This is the first time the school has encountered such a big incident.

School officials also plan to work with the infrastructure company again to ensure timely alternatives are available, should the system continue to experience similar problems.

Infrastructure provider Finalsite is starting an investigation from its own side, and it is estimated that it could take weeks to process.

Web Application Security Solutions

Basically a hacked website can lead to: denied access to your site, data breach, identity theft, fraud, website downtime, content pages. change… Here are the 7 most popular ways to secure your website :

Install SSL: An SSL certificate is essential for any website. It encrypts the information transmitted between your website and your visitors.

Use anti-malware solutions: Use software to scan and protect your site from malware.

Set up your password so hackers can’t track it: Use random combinations of letters, numbers, and symbols when possible.

Make sure your site is always up to date: Install any software or plugin updates as soon as they become available.

Don’t let hackers fool you: Watch out for spoofed emails.

Moderate comments manually: This allows you to remove any spam messages before they even appear online.

Run regular backups: If your site gets hacked, you’ll need a recent backup to reinstall.

Don’t leave the portal open to your website making it easy for hackers to get in. You need to put in place protections to prevent hackers, code errors, and other risks on your website. Otherwise, your data could be stolen, website down, or even ransom paid to hackers.

Website security service of VNIS (VNETWORK Internet Security)

Ransomware causes thousands of school websites to crash

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Find out now a comprehensive website security solution with Cloud WAF, and Multi CDN for effective DDoS protection, or leave contact information for our experts to support the solution.

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