Hackers hit another New Jersey school district

💻 Hackers hit schools in Union, NJ

💻 District officials call the damage 'significant'

💻 Schools are increasingly being targeted by ransomware

Another New Jersey school district has become the victim of a cyber-attack.

Superintendent Gerry Benaquista confirms the Union Township School District was hit by hackers last weekend resulting in a "significant network disruption."

Days after the attack, the district is still trying to determine the extent of the damage and the best way to repair the systems effected.

Benaquista says when the attack was discovered, the district took critical systems off-line to secure the school's data network.

School officials did not offer an estimate of when repairs will be completed, but have brought in external cybersecurity experts to work on the problem.

The district also didn't say whether hackers made a demand for ransom payment in exchange for restoration of the effected systems.

It is also not known if any personal data of students and district staff have been compromised.

Schools are increasingly targeted

Cyber criminals have increasingly targeted school districts, colleges and universities with ransomware attacks.

In January, parents were sent scrambling on a Sunday night when a Monmouth County school district unexpectedly canceled classes for Monday.

Freehold Township School District Superintendent Neal Dickstein said in a message to to school community said "technical issues to a cybersecurity incident in our network environment" was the reason for the sudden cancellation. He did not disclose specifically how the incident impedes operations in the district's eight schools.

The district had to bring in an outside IT consultant to restore operations.

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