A COUNCIL has issued an update after its schools suffered a suspected phishing attack.
Students in Edinburgh were locked out of systems after the attack was detected on Friday afternoon. A member of staff spotted a suspicious invitation to a meeting earlier in the day and realised it was "spear-phishing", which impersonates a trusted source.
The council took the decision to reset passwords for all users as a “precautionary measure”, meaning pupils studying for exams did not have access to their school's learning resources.
All secondary schools in Edinburgh were open on Saturday from 10.15am to 12pm to allow students who had exams early next week to attend in person to obtain a new password.
The council has since issued an update where it confirmed that there had been no data breaches as a result of the attack.
The council's education, children and families convener, councillor James Dalgleish, said: “We saw approximately 2500 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.
“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.”
