Karlsruhe: Cyber ​​attack on seven schools

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Ransom demand from blackmailers: 2.017303 Bitcoin per school (icon image)

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Silas Stein / dpa

Hackers have attacked the IT systems at at least seven schools in Karlsruhe and want to extort ransom money in Bitcoin.

The city announced on Monday that the data on the school servers was encrypted and malware was smuggled in.

As a precaution, the servers of the institutions specifically affected were taken offline, as were those of 70 other schools in the city that could still become victims.

“The hackers are claiming 2.017303 Bitcoin per school.

So far, the seven schools that have been proven to have been hacked have made corresponding demands," a city spokesman explained.

According to the current rate, that would be almost 41,000 euros per school.

Only the vocational schools in the city are given the all-clear: they use other systems, it was said.

According to the information, the hackers penetrated the schools' network last weekend.

According to previous knowledge, system data was encrypted.

So far, there are no findings on the encryption of personal data.

School operations restricted

The city announced that it had filed a complaint against unknown persons and also informed the state data protection officer.

In addition, the Office for Information Technology and Digitization was involved and external experts for cyber security were consulted.

It is unclear who is behind the attack.

The cyber attack is currently restricting school operations and the work of the administration there.

According to a spokeswoman, the responsible regional council in Karlsruhe does not currently have any information that the lessons themselves are affected.

"The servers will be checked step by step and will go back online after approval," said the city spokesman.

The timeframe for this cannot yet be estimated.

“Priority is the security of the data.” The city of Karlsruhe assumes that checking the shut down servers will take at least several days.

him/dpa