Teenage boy arrested over cyber attack on schools’ IT system

By Jonathan McCambridge (Press Association)

A 16-year-old boy has been arrested by police investigating a cyber attack which targeted an IT system used by schools in Northern Ireland.

The Education Authority (EA) said it is believed that “some personal data” was compromised in the attack earlier this month.

An IT system called C2K was targeted in the incident. It left schools and pupils unable to log into their accounts.

A PSNI spokesperson said: “Detectives from the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Cyber Crime Investigation Team arrested a 16-year-old male on suspicion of offences under Sections 1, 2 and 3A of the Computer Misuse Act 1990.

“The male was arrested earlier today in the Portadown area, Wednesday April 15, and has since been released pending further inquiries.

“A follow-up search has taken place.

“The arrest forms part of an ongoing investigation into a report received on Thursday April 2 of network intrusion activity involving the Education Authority.”

An EA spokesperson said: “The ongoing investigation into the recent cyber incident has now confirmed that there was a targeted attack on a small number of schools which is believed to have compromised some personal data.

“Our immediate priority is notifying the individuals and schools impacted by the attack.

“That process is being urgently progressed, guided by the final findings of the investigation and advice from the PSNI and the Information Commissioner’s Office.

“It remains the assessment of our system managers that the cyber incident is contained.

“Additional security measures were deployed at the beginning of this month on detection of the incident.

“Intensive work continues to ensure schools are fully reconnected to the C2k system and that all impacted systems return to normal.”

Online and IT systems in schools in the region are provided through the C2K network.

The EA apologised recently for the impact of the cyber attack on pupils who were preparing for exams over the Easter break.

The C2K system is used as a curriculum support.

Exam pupils studies were impacted by the cyber attack that led to them being logged out of the C2K IT system over Easter