Miami-Dade County Public Schools Targeted by Cyber Attacks

Since the start of online classes on Monday, Miami-Dade County Public Schools (M-DCPS) has been targeted by cyber attacks, leaving many students and teachers unable to login to the online system. Students and teachers who are having issues logging on were later instructed to use the district's alternative log in method, but the attacks continued on Tuesday and Wednesday. MDCPS Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said during a news conference Tuesday that the district suffered a distributed denial-of-service attack Monday morning that rendered multiple online school district features useless and teaching nearly impossible. “There was a malicious, well-orchestrated, complex attempt, at derailing and destroying the connection which is essential for our students and teachers,” said Carvalho. As the attacks continued on Tuesday, the school board issued a statement assuring students and teachers that their personal data was not accessed.

Statement on Distributed Denial-of-Service Cyber Attacks. pic.twitter.com/VxfNDa3iKi

— Miami-Dade Schools (@MDCPS) September 2, 2020

On Wednesday, another statement was issued. "M-DCPS continues to be targeted by cyber attacks. Multiple attempts have been made this morning. The District's security and safeguard measures have been successful thus far." they said. "The 200,000 students who have successfully logged on are asked to remain logged on. Students and teachers who are having trouble logging on are asked to use the alternative log in method provided earlier this week." The FBI and Secret Service have been called in and subpoenaed the school district’s internet provider, Carvalho said. He added that the glitch has been completely resolved and optimized. Whoever conducted the cyber attack did not hack in or penetrate district servers, officials said. It wasn't known who initiated the attack, but Carvalho said he wants them prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.