San Diego Unified School District announced it experienced a computer-network security breach this week and is advising all students and staff to change their passwords.
District Superintendent Lamont Jackson sent a letter to staff members and families of students attending SDUSD campuses alerting them of the “cybersecurity incident.''
“After learning of this incident, we acted swiftly to take steps to secure our network, to launch an investigation, and to prevent any disruptions to (information technology) operations,'' Jackson wrote. “We also notified law enforcement and engaged cybersecurity professionals to assist.''
SDUSD officials did not reveal if the breach may have resulted in the misappropriation of any sensitive data or involved any ransom demands.
According to Jackson’s letter, “critical systems continue to be operational, and the incident has not impacted the safety and emergency mechanisms in place at schools and offices.''
“Out of an abundance of caution, we have changed all passwords for staff, and we will continue the process to change passwords for student accounts as a measure to continue strengthening our IT system,'' the superintendent asserted.
School staff will work on providing new passwords for students on a schedule prepared by the district.
“We want our students and the San Diego Unified community to know that we place a high value on maintaining the integrity and security of the data we hold in our systems and (that) we are working diligently to complete our investigation of the incident,'' Jackson stated.
