Jefferson County Schools working to place ransomware attack in rearview mirror

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - Technology has never been more critical in the classroom. It’s a fact that the Jefferson County School District was reminded of last spring after a Ransomware attack stripped the district of the ability to safely use tech in the classroom.

We have been on your side updating you on the district’s efforts to repair their network since the attack first occurred. We have even went into a classroom to highlight how teachers were working to overcome the obstacles the ransomware created.

Now, they are nearing the finish line. The network has been rebuilt. This means your kids will once again be using technology in the classroom and while they are almost back to business as usual, the district is still fine tuning.

“When the teachers return, the average teacher in the classroom will probably not know that we are still experiencing the effects from rebuilding our system,” said Superintendent Dr. Walter B. Gonsoulin.

While the education efforts won’t be impacted, the district is still working on shoring up their security efforts before students return to school.

“We are working on making sure that all the cameras are working and that they are not only on, but they are recording. We got those right yesterday. Those type of things that don’t necessarily effect the classroom, but they are very essential to the school year.”

The security work extends to the digital world. Superintendent Gonsoulin says they are working to strengthen and test their cyber security protocols vigorously to ensure something like this doesn’t happen again in the district.

“We want to make sure we have the right security measures in place and testing out those things. So when we go live, when I say live I mean the beginning of school year, that we won’t have to be concerned with some of those issues.”

Dr. Gonsoulin says all Jefferson County School Teachers will gather Thursday for a large back to school event and all students will return next Tuesday.

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