Officials in Hartford, Connecticut, gave more information about the cyberattack against city systems this weekend, but did not announce a definitive start date for schools.
On Saturday, more than 200 of Hartford’s 300 servers experienced a ransomware cyberattack, according to Mayor Luke Bronin.
At this time, no private or personal data has been stolen, and the city’s information technology service, Metro Hartford Innovation Services, is working to restore government systems, he said. Bronin said this is one of the most significant cyberattacks on the city in the last five years.
The city’s school bus routing service was one of the most heavily impacted systems the school district experienced, Bronin said. While they originally thought the system would be online and ready to go by this morning, it became clear last night that it was not the case.
The student information system Power School was also compromised in the attack, but was fully restored as of midnight last night, said Dr. Leslie Torres-Rodriguez, the superintendent of Hartford Public Schools. She also noted that Innovation Services is checking every desktop at each school to make sure they are not compromised.
Torres-Rodriguez said they are not sure when school will officially start but will keep families updated on their progress.
Police are investigating the attack and are in communication with the FBI on the matter, said Hartford Police Chief Jason Thody. While some public safety services were impacted, there were no issues with 911 calls or dispatch, he said.
Bronin noted that due to investing in half a million dollars in cybersecurity services last year, the attack had a smaller impact than it could have.
