The Surry County school's cybersecurity breach in Winston Salem, NC.

Recently, on the 6^th of July 2020, it was just another day for Surry County Schools, but all the lessons had to stop since the schools was a victim of a ransomware attack.

A ransomware attack is a malicious program that encrypts files and folders and locks legitimate users out of all data until the ransomware is paid. The cyber-terrorist demands a specific amount of money in exchange for the key code.

Dr. Tracey Lewis, the school’s director of communication, teacher's recruitment, and retention, said that "our information technology security team immediately responded to contain the attack and prevent it from infecting other computers networks."

Unfortunately, she did not disclose how much their school computers have been affected or if they have regained their computers' control.

She also said, "due to the nature of the investigation, we are not going to disclose any specific details regarding the attack until the investigation is complete. There is no sign or evidence that any sensitive data has been accessed inappropriately or tampered with. Even though the cybersecurity breach had taken over the operation."

Dr. Tracey Lewis reports. "We are working together with the law enforcement department and cybersecurity experts including the FBI, the national guard forensic team, the Winston Salem information technology security department, MCNC, and the K12 schools, colleges, and universities."

There were no indications that other government agencies or local schools were affected.