The Wyoming Area Secondary Center, part of the Wyoming Area School District, is seen in this screen capture from Google Maps.
Pa. school district paid over $38K to end ransomware attack
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The Associated Press
Google Maps
The Wyoming Area Secondary Center, part of the Wyoming Area School District, is seen in this screen capture from Google Maps.
(Exeter) — A school district in northeastern Pennsylvania sent payments of over $38,000 to a hacker who had encrypted and locked the district’s computer data over the summer.
The technology director for The Wyoming Area School District tells the Citizens’ Voice newspaper the recovery effort will only cost the district $10,000 because an insurer will cover all other costs.
The FBI encourages victims to resist paying hacker’s extortion demands for the key to unlock files.
Jason Jones says the district followed advice from consultants and a legal coach working for their insurance company after he discovered the ransomware attack July 18.
He says the district received codes from the hacker and then began unlocking and recovering most of its data in early August. It’s still recovering some data.
A collection of interviews, photos, and music videos, featuring local musicians who have stopped by the WITF performance studio to share a little discussion and sound. Produced by WITF’s Joe Ulrich.
