Op-Ed: The cyberattack on Los Angeles schools could happen anywhere in the world, warns LA Schools Superintendent, LAUSD board
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An op-ed from our LA Schools chief of staff, Michael Dunn. “The cyberattack on LAUSD schools is about all of us.”
L.A. Schools chief of staff Michael Dunn. Photo: Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Unified School District is reeling from a major cyberattack. The hackers are holding their own school hostage, threatening to release up to 30,000 students from their attendance records on the Los Angeles Unified website.
At a Board of Education meeting Monday, an emergency committee was in charge of deciding whether to release information on the cyberattack. The committee’s chairwoman, Tracey Lewis, said the cyberattack may be a national threat and that the district’s emergency committee may not have enough time to make a determination.
“What we’re hearing now is we now have a cyberattack against our schools and it’s been going on for a while,” she said.
The threat of cyberattacks will continue to worsen for the LAUSD, she said, as social media becomes more prevalent.
“The real thing is the fact is it isn’t limited to just Los Angeles,” she said. “It is a national issue, we are a national issue.”
Los Angeles is a major focus for the hacking attacks. The hacker who took down the LAUSD website said they were working their way around the country.
The district has been able to identify a number of students affected by the hacking. District officials are working with students to get their information back, and have been sending an email to parents asking them to make sure their children’s records are up to date.
“The real thing is what is happening,” Lewis said. “They are able to hold information hostage just like I can.”
Lewis estimated that the LA
