Dorchester school's IT system struck by cyber attack

The Thomas Hardye School's been affected since Sunday night (21st May)

Author: Faye TryhornPublished 24th May 2023

A Dorchester school's been hit by a cyber attack, with hackers demanding a ransom.

The Thomas Hardye School's IT systems and website went down on Sunday night (21st May) with the problem discovered before lessons started on Monday morning.

The school remains open, with teaching adapted as needed, and exams continuing as planned.

The outage is affecting anything which operates through the school server, like payments in the canteen, pupil payments for other items which are based on finger print technology, electronic diaries, records and messaging.

It's also believed the school won't be paying any form of ransom to free up the systems, instead reporting the incident to the authorities.

A message from the headteacher, Nick Rutherford, to parents said:

“We are in liaison with our school Data Protection Officer and this data breach has been reported to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) in line with requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018/GDPR. Every action has been taken to minimise disruption and data loss.

“The school will be working with Wessex Multi-Academy Trust, IT team and other relevant third parties (Department for Education, National Cyber Security Centre and police) to restore functionality and normal working as soon as possible.

“I appreciate that this will cause some problems for parents/carers with regards to school communications and apologise for any inconvenience. Please use the telephone absence line to report student absence, as staff cannot currently receive emails. Please also telephone the school should you wish to report any concerns or speak to a member of staff."

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