School computers held hostage for bitcoins, disrupting tests in NJ
A New Jersey school district is hoping to resume standardized testing after delays because its computer network was shut down in an online attack.
Officials say the computers in the Swedesboro-Woolwich district in southern New Jersey were held hostage for days by someone who was seeking 500 bitcoins, or about $125,000 in digital currency.
The FBI, state police, the Gloucester County Prosecutor’s Office and other law-enforcement agencies are investigating the attack, which began over the weekend.
Superintendent Terry Van Zoeren says students’ personal information was not compromised because most of it is stored at remote servers.
But the attack did mean two days of delays in standardized testing. The PARCC test being given across New Jersey this month is administered on computers.
The district plans to start testing Wednesday.
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