Isle of Wight school at centre of cyber attack

The head teacher of an Isle of Wight school has written to parents and guardians to say that personal information has been breached following a cyber attack. It understood that cyber hackers accessed children’s names, dates of birth, addresses and general school records along with attendance and discipline records. Lisa Nicholson, Headteacher of Haylands Primary School, has this week said that whilst investigations were being made following the discovery of a malware virus on the school’s IT system, a number of previous unauthorised log-ins to the school’s servers were identified. An urgent security review of the server has taken place, with security improved and the malware being removed. Due to sensitivity the school has said that they cannot rule out a data breach at this stage. A Hampshire Constabulary source said that they have been made aware of the incident and are conducting an investigation and are working with the school. In a statement Mrs Nicholson said: “There is little more that we can add while the Police investigation is ongoing other than to say it is very sad that a primary school should be cyber attacked in this way”. Anyone concerned about their child’s information should contact the school on [email protected] in the first instance.