Evanston Township High School is closed until at least Wednesday because of a cyberattack that occurred over the weekend, school officials announced.
A ransomware attack “disrupted access to district systems, internet services and computer infrastructure” and forced the school to cancel summer classes, sports camps and other on-campus activities that were scheduled, according to a note on the high school’s website.
In a statement, the school said closing was necessary because it impacted systems critical to “safely” operating campus, such as network access, internet services, phone services, and other emergency or operational systems.”
ETHS said it didn’t yet know when it would reopen, but would determine that within the next 24 hours based on “the progress of the investigation, system restoration, and confirmation that ETHS can safely resume operations.”
“The district is working with cybersecurity forensic experts to determine what information, if any, may have been accessed or acquired,” the school said in a statement to the Sun-Times. “Without these systems fully operational, we cannot safely run school or other on-campus activities. Staff are working remotely to the extent they are able, given these limitations.”
The school did “not yet know the full scope of what data may have been impacted” or how it happened, though it was discovered by the school’s IT team, it said in a statement. School phone systems aren’t available, and families may not be able to access certain online tools, accounts or school resources, the note said.
The FBI is looking into the incident, according to the school. The bureau hasn’t responded to a request for comment.