Public school board recovers data after cyber attack

The Waterloo Region District School Board says it's recovered data that was accessed during a cyber intrusion in July.

The public school board also says it's “received assurance” that data taken during this incident has been deleted.

More details have released on the extent of the cyber attack.

For current and past employees dating back to 1970, WRDSB says files that included the names, birthdates, banking information, and social insurance numbers were accessed through a restricted network drive.

This also includes payment history for employments dating back to 2012.

WRDSB confirms some student information was accessed and says it's still “actively investigating the full scope of the impact on student information.”

An update is expected.

The board says it will contact those whose personal information was impacted directly, but does not fall into the categories above.

It plans on taking additional measures to strengthen the WRDSB system by working with its internal IT team and outside IT experts.

WRDSB says the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario has been notified of the incident.

“This cyber intrusion disrupted our operations, and WRDSB responded immediately by engaging cyber security experts and prioritizing a full return of our operational functions. It has been difficult, especially for staff both those waiting on payments and records of employment and those who were working on resolving this issue,” said Eusis Dougan-McKenzie, Chief Communications Officer, WRDSB. 

“We appreciate your patience as we conducted this detailed investigation.”

The board says it's treating the incident with “the utmost concern” and is apologizing for any inconvenience.

Complaints can be filed with the IPC.