After the Los Angeles Unified School District was hit by a massive ransomware attack that caused a service blackout over the weekend, the school district is now requiring all students and district employees to reset their login credentials for their district accounts.
The school district said that any and all district accounts that use the @LAUSD.net email suffix will need to be reset — in person at a district site.
Teachers and administrators will be providing instructions on how to reset the password, LAUSD officials said.
The school district expects a high number of students and faculty will be looking to change their passwords at district sites. Because of high demand, the district has set up specific times for groups to go through the process of resetting their credentials.
The schedule is as follows:
- 7 a.m.: Teachers and administrators
- 9 a.m.: Support staff
- 10 a.m.: High school students
- 11 a.m.: Elementary and middle school students
The school district expects delays and high demand on the network system, and is asking for patience while credentials are updated.
Students returned to classrooms Tuesday and the school district said it hoped that it would be business as usual following the cyberattack that crippled their system over the weekend.
The attack, which is believed to be “criminal in nature,” targeted the district’s Information Technology infrastructure, including email, computer systems and applications.
LAUSD Superintendent Albert Carvalho said no immediate demand for money was made, even though the attackers used technology that encrypts information until a ransom is paid or the victim refuses to be extorted, at which point the data is released online, the Associated Press reported.
The school district has said that high levels of law enforcement, including the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, are assisting with the investigation.
As of Tuesday morning, Carvalho said password resets had been successful with more than 53,000 students and faculties having successfully updated their passwords and regaining access to district resources.
Updates on the LAUSD ransomware attack and information about what the school district is doing is being provided on the school district’s Twitter and Facebook pages.
