Mansfield ISD hit by ransomware attack

Mansfield ISD returned to a nasty surprise Monday morning.

The school district's computer systems was impacted by a ransomware attack causing an outage in all district systems requiring internet connectivity, including the Mansfield ISD website, Skyward, email and phone systems.

“Once the issue was discovered, we immediately notified the appropriate authorities and are working closely with them to resolve the situation. We are working diligently to investigate the source of the disruption, confirm the extent of the impact on our systems, and restore full functionality as quickly and securely as possible. ” said Superintendent Kimberley Cantu. “Students have been safely learning inside our campuses and we will continue to have school, providing the best learning environment possible without the use of internet and web-based systems.”

Due to the ongoing investigation, Mansfield ISD cannot disclose the timeline of events, all systems involved, specifics about the ransomware attack, or detailed next steps. However, the district is working with the appropriate authorities to take preventative measures to protect staff, student and family information.

The district does not know when the affected systems will return to normal, said Donald Williams, associate superintendent of communications & marketing.

Because the outage has also affected the district’s visitor and volunteer management system, Mansfield ISD has suspended all campus visitors until the system is back up.

“We love our parents and community members, but safety is our No. 1 priority, so campuses will be closed to visitors until all systems are back online,” Cantu said.

At this point, it is unclear what, if any, data may have been compromised. The school district is working with third-party vendors to keep parents and staff members updated through text messages, emails, calls and social media channels.

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