Cyberattack forces Albuquerque schools to close

All of the over 100 elementary, middle, high and charter schools in the Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) district have been closed due to a cyberattack affecting the schools' daily operations.

Serving over 85,000 students, the district announced the closure of all buildings on Thursday, January 13 as they work to resolve the attack, which compromised the schools' student information system. APS staff discovered the attack Wednesday morning, as teachers experienced issues during system login attempts. According to a statement released by APS, the attack rendered the school attendance system inoperable, hindering APS' emergency communications protocol.

The district did not comment on whether student or employee personal identifiable information (PII) was compromised. APS Superintendent Scott Elder said that the district is working with local and national law enforcement and a third-party cybersecurity firm to mitigate the ongoing cyberattack.

Madeline Lauver is a former Editor in Chief at Security magazine. Within her role at Security, Lauver focused on news articles, web exclusives, features and several departments for Security’s monthly digital edition, as well as managing social media and multimedia content.

ON DEMAND: In this webinar, Regina Lester, Vice President of Security & Safety Operations at Toledo Zoo, will share her insights on implementing security technologies in the entertainment sector and the challenges all organizations face — large and small — when it comes to balancing budget and security.