WAMC Berkshire Bureau Chief Josh Landes joins us now. Hello Josh.
Hello Lucas!
Josh, where did hackers manage to get this information from?
The Pittsfield Public Schools use the learning management system Canvas, a platform for teachers to publish course materials, receive assignments digitally, and communicate with students and their parents directly. This month, Canvas owner Instructure said the platform had been hacked. A group named ShinyHunters took credit for the hack in a ransom note for the information they gleaned days later, before once again hacking Canvas on May 7. PPS was one of many educational institutions targeted in the attack- other Western Massachusetts victims include the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams and UMass Amherst.
What are Pittsfield Public Schools leaders saying about what was taken in the hacks, and what risks the hacks pose to the community?
The information taken included usernames, email addresses, course names, enrollment information, and messaging between teachers and students as well as parents and teachers.
PPS Technology Director Richard White says the information could be used for online scams:
“I think that information can be used to form phishing attacks on people. They can use email addresses to impersonate other people and make it seem as if they're a familiar person when they are not, and they can ask for information or different things through that communication that would be detrimental to whoever gets it.”
White told me today that the district shut off access to Canvas until the platform confirmed it had rectified the security issues that lead to the hacks in the first place.
Interim Superintendent Latifah Phillips says PPS is trying to learn some crucial lessons from the information being stolen by hackers:
“We need to be vigilant about our systems, and especially as we're going into this 21st century education, a lot of technology, we need to make sure that we're in front of protections for our systems, sharing out data practices with our students, our staff, just so that we can, we can use this data, which is this technology system, which is important for us, but we have to learn how to protect information and use the system responsibly.”
At this time, should the Pittsfield Public Schools community be concerned about their information being protected from bad actors online?
District leadership maintains that for now, Canvas has been secured, and that they are in contact with other entities in Massachusetts about improving cybersecurity to prevent future hacks.
That’s WAMC Berkshire Bureau Chief Josh Landes. Thanks Josh.
Anytime Lucas.
