Sault-area English Catholic school board closes schools following ‘cyber incident’

The Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board said in a statement it is recovering from a cyber-incident that first came to light Thursday morning.

“Upon our discovery, we immediately took steps to secure our network and retained expert assistance,” the statement said.

“We are in the process of investigating and understanding the full impact of this incident.”

Officials said the attack was brought to their attention Thursday morning, when hackers sent a note through school photocopiers notifying them that they had gained access to the school’s system.

The board’s phone and computer system was targeted, but no demands were made from the hackers.

The incident affected the English school board’s communication systems, including phones and PA systems.

“To ensure the health and safety of everyone, all staff and students will be sent home for the remainder of the day today and all classes will be cancelled this afternoon and tomorrow,” the board said.

“Classes will resume for staff and students on Tuesday, Jan. 3.”

Principals and vice-principals will remain in schools for the remainder of today and will be reporting to their schools on Friday should their assistance be required at the school level.

“At this time our board website is not operational,” the statement said.

“Our IT team has been working diligently and will continue until we are able to restore services. We appreciate that this incident raises a significant privacy concern, and we will be providing updates and sharing more information when we have it.”

“Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through this and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause,” the statement concluded.