School's internet outage caused by cyberattack, Tyngsborough superintendent says
A local school's Internet outage is the result of a cyberattack, according to Tyngsborough school officials.
The outages have affected Tyngsborough High School and Tyngsborough Middle School.
The district’s IT team and cybersecurity provider determined the outages were caused by a distributed denial of services cyberattack, apparently from a device being brought into the building each morning, according to Superintendent Michael Flanagan.
“We are frustrated and disappointed that this outage has disrupted what has been a very successful and positive start to our school year here in Tyngsborough,” Flanagan said.
The school district said it is working with Tyngsborough police, town administration and NorthEast Technology, a Danvers IT solutions company, to identify and remediate the source of the outage. It will also investigate whether the interruption was intentional or caused by a compromised device without the knowledge of its owner.
"While we are confident that we will soon rectify this situation, I am upset for the difficulty and disruption this has caused our students, families, and staff," Flanagan said.
High school and middle school students and teachers worked remotely on Friday. Monday is a school holiday, and the district is hopeful that in-school learning can resume on Tuesday.
Tyngsborough Elementary School was not affected.