After a phishing attack locked thousands out of learning material on Friday – with exams set to start in the coming days and weeks – students were forced to attend schools in Edinburgh on Saturday in order to reset their passwords.
According to the City of Edinburgh Council, the attempted cyber-attack resulted in no compromised data, taking place on Friday during an exam revision period for students.
Pupils had been locked out of their schools’ IT networks as a precaution due to the attempted attack, blocking them from accessing revision resources. Pupils returned to school on Saturday to reset their passwords as they face exams in the week following the attack.
Around 2,500 students returned to Edinburgh schools on Saturday, supported by school staff.
“We saw approximately 2,500 young people attend their secondary schools to reset their passwords this morning and I’m delighted that our dedicated school staff were on hand to support them and minimise the impact on their exam preparations,” Edinburgh council’s education convener, James Dalgleish, said.
The attempted phishing attack was detected on Friday by a member of staff that saw “unusual and suspicious” activity on the IT network for Edinburgh’s schools and early years education.
“My thanks once again to our colleagues for their quick thinking and vigilance, without which this could have been far worse, and for their work throughout the weekend to ensure the attack was contained and our networks remain secure and protected.
“Close monitoring will continue over the coming days and we’re keeping the Scottish Government and Police Scotland up to date.
“I’d like to wish all of our students sitting exams in the coming days and weeks the very best of luck.”
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Staff were also affected by the password reset, meaning that they were also unable to log into the network until they reset their passwords.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “City of Edinburgh Council is being supported by the Scottish Cyber Co-ordination Centre.
“Schools remain open and ministers have not been advised of any impact on exam arrangements.
“Cybersecurity matters are reserved to the UK Government. However, the Scottish Government is determined to do whatever it can within its powers to build Scotland’s cyber resilience and to reduce the impact of cyber incidents across our sectors.”
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