Arrest Made in Cyber Attack on Northern Ireland School IT System
A 16-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with a cyber attack targeting the IT network used by all schools in Northern Ireland.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) reported that detectives from the Cyber Crime Investigation Team conducted the arrest in the Portadown area on Wednesday.
"The arrest forms part of an ongoing investigation into a report received on Thursday 2 April of network intrusion activity involving the Education Authority,"
explained the PSNI.
Details of the Cyber Attack
The IT system affected, known as C2K, is managed by the Education Authority (EA) and is utilized by schools across Northern Ireland. The attack occurred at the start of the school Easter break, resulting in pupils being locked out of their accounts. Consequently, students were unable to access work or revision materials saved or uploaded online by their teachers.
The police stated that the boy was arrested
"on suspicion of offences under Sections 1, 2 and 3A of the Computer Misuse Act 1990".
He has since been released pending further inquiries, and a follow-up search has been conducted, according to the PSNI.
Education Authority's Response
Following the arrest, the Education Authority issued a statement regarding the incident:
"An investigation into the incident has now confirmed that there was a targeted attack on a small number of schools which is believed to have compromised some personal data."
The EA emphasized their priority:
"Our immediate priority is notifying the individuals and schools impacted by the attack."
They added that this notification process is being expedited, guided by the final findings of the investigation and advice from the PSNI and the Information Commissioner's Office.
"It remains the assessment of our system managers that the cyber incident is contained."
The EA also noted that additional security measures were implemented at the beginning of the month after detecting the incident.
"Intensive work continues to ensure schools are fully reconnected to the C2k system and that all impacted systems return to normal,"
the statement concluded.
