On Wednesday, Akron Public Schools closed their buildings due to a network outage stemming from a cybersecurity breach. By the afternoon, the district remained offline but intended to resume most regular activities, including athletics and office operations, by Thursday. Staff members were expected to work remotely to access WiFi, according to Superintendent Mary Outley. Summer programs, except for credit recovery, were set to continue as usual. Credit recovery, which helps students complete failed or incomplete courses online, was canceled for the rest of the week, with make-up days to be arranged later. Board of Education President Barbara Sykes stated that there was no knowledge of any ransom demand linked to the incident. Ohio law mandates public action in response to ransomware attacks. As of Wednesday evening, it was still uncertain whether any student or staff data had been compromised or how the breach had occurred.
Why were Akron Public Schools closed due to a cybersecurity breach?
