Ryuk Ransomware Corrupts New Mexico School District
Gadsden School District, located in Santa Teresa, New Mexico has recently suffered a ransomware attack. Ryuk, the ransomware variant that corrupted the district’s networks, is believed to have wormed its way in by a malicious email. The infection successfully infiltrated over 10,000 PCs, but did not affect any Chromebooks or iPads. Although, since it was able to render the school’s email systems useless, it didn’t matter what device users attempted to use — email networks were down. According to the initial investigative reports, payroll systems, student and faculty data, and other district information were not impacted.
The exact ransom demands have yet to be disclosed. However, Superintendent Travis Dempsey stated they have no intention to pay the hackers. Although the district’s IT department is still working to fully restore their networks, certain data has been lost indefinitely. This data includes all emails received prior to March 2019, as well as contacts stored within the email system.
