Investigation ongoing after Fall River Public Schools cyber hack

FALL RIVER, Mass. (WLNE) — Fall River Public Schools said it is investigating a cybersecurity hack that occurred on Monday.

According to the district, Fall River Public Schools Chief Informant Officer Scott Cabral discovered “suspicious activity” that suggested parts of the school system’s internal network had been accessed by an unauthorized party.

Information Technology staff immediately acted on the discovery and collaborated with cybersecurity specialists and law enforcement to control and investigate the incident.

According to Fall River Public Schools Superintendent Tracy Curley, no student or staff personal data was “accessed or misused.”

“While it appears no personal data was accessed during this incident, I want to assure everyone in the Fall River Public Schools community that we take cybersecurity and the protection of students’ and staff members’ personal data extremely seriously,” Curley said. 

According to Curley, the IT staff are working on strengthening systems to secure data and prevent hacking incidents.

The district and third-party cybersecurity experts will continue to investigate the incident.