Kent school suffers cyberattack, personal data encrypted

IT systems and phone lines are down

A secondary school in Kent has suffered a 'serious IT breach,' and parents have been warned to watch for 'unusual' contact.

St Augustine's Academy, a secondary school in Maidstone, has been attacked by "an outside criminal organisation."

The headteacher, Jason Feldwick, sent parents and carers a Facebook message warning that student data had been compromised.

The message was also posted to the school's website.

Describing the attack as a "serious IT breach," Mr Feldwick said, "The school systems and data have been encrypted by an outside criminal organisation.

"The external WisePay system is secure, but the internal student data and parental information has been encrypted."

He added, "Please be extra vigilant if you receive any unusual emails or phone calls."

St Augustine's, which has more than 750 students, opened its doors for the new term this week. However, now all of its phone lines and emails are down.

Enquiries are instead being directed to the managing Woodard Academies Trust, although Mr Feldwick has asked people only phone in case of an emergency.

Local Liberal Democrat county councillor Chris Passmore said, "It just goes to show that absolutely no one is safe from cyber attacks and emphasises the need for vigilance against them.

"I will be keeping a close eye on developments."

Muhammad Yahya Patel of Check Point Software warned: "The education sector continues to be a prime target for hackers due to the mass amount of sensitive information they house, and the lack of funding often allocated to integrating preventative cybersecurity measures.

"We unfortunately expect this to be an upwards trend as cyber criminals continue to increase the quantity of phishing and ransomware attacks."

The attack on St Augustine's Academy is the second in as many weeks to hit a UK education institution. Last week an incident at Debenham High School, in Suffolk, took down the school's computer facilities, although no personal data was compromised.

With the back to school season in full swing, the National Cyber Security Centre warned schools to be vigilant for attacks, which are felt particularly harshly at this time of year.