Breaches and incidents
Slate Valley Unified School District (Vermont): Kairos extortion over stolen staff data, ransom refused
The district learned of the attack on 3 Sep when teachers “couldn’t log in to Microsoft Windows” and was without internet and platforms such as PowerSchool...
- Disclosed
- Verification
- Confirmed by two or more outlets
What happened
- The district learned of the attack on 3 Sep when teachers “couldn’t log in to Microsoft Windows” and was without internet and platforms such as PowerSchool for about a week (VTDigger). Materially new on 2 Oct: officials said hackers accessed “business documents and employees’ personal information” (WCAX), including current and former teachers’ records, and demanded “hundreds of thousands of dollars” (VTDigger).
- Root cause: not disclosed.
- The attackers called themselves the “Kairos ransomware group” in an email to media (VTDigger); the FBI confirmed it is investigating.
- The board, with legal counsel, “opted not to pay” (WCAX); the FBI advised against paying. Internet restored; the district does not believe student data leaked and is identifying people for individual notification.