Rialto school district tackles malware attack, pre-K – 8th grade instruction tentatively set to resume Aug. 31

On Friday, August 21, Rialto Unified School District was affected with a malware attack, resulting in the district shutting down its entire network and internet immediately after discovering the breach.

Thousands of RUSD electronic devices issued to students, teachers and staff were possibly affected and all distance learning operations were instantly suspended.

“Due to the malware attack on Friday, the district’s Information Technology team was forced to suspend the use of any district issued Windows device, which included laptops, desktops, Surface Pro’s, and Sonic touch displays,” said Syeda Jafri, RUSD Communications Director.  “Since this malware is designed to damage our district’s computer devices, we had to make sure that we collect all the devices from students, staff and teachers.”

Since the breach, the district has been working tirelessly to resolve the issue, in hopes of regaining virtual classroom instruction as soon as possible.

“This week we dedicated our time to collecting thousands of our students,’ teachers’ and staff’s devices and replacing them. It is a large undertaking, but our priority is to secure all of our devices and continue the flow of education,” continued Jafri.

The district began collecting all computer devices on Monday, August 24 and will continue to do so through the end of the week, ending August 28.

“We’re being completely flexible with days and times this week for device drop-off. This will assist our Information Technology team to assess the situation and diagnose if in fact any of these devices are affected,” Jafri said.

This attack presented itself at an already uncertain time, where teachers, students and even parents are learning to navigate through distance learning.

“The greatest frustration is that this would happen to students, teachers and parents who are working during one of the most challenging times to make sure our students receive quality instruction,” concluded Jafri.

Pre-K through 8th grade instruction is tentatively scheduled to resume distance learning on Monday, Aug. 31.