Data breach following ransomware attack confirmed by Iowa’s largest school district

Des Moines Public Schools, the largest school district in Iowa, has disclosed that nearly 6,700 individuals had their data compromised following a January ransomware attack that resulted in the disruption of its network and internet services, BleepingComputer reports. Attackers have demanded a ransom from Des Moines Public Schools but the school district assured that it has not and will not pay. "As a precautionary measure, potentially impacted individuals are being offered complimentary credit monitoring services," said DMPS in a letter sent to individuals whose data may have been impacted by the incident. DMPS is among the 37 or more K-12 school districts compromised by ransomware groups so far this year, according to Emsisoft Threat Analyst Brett Callow. The U.S. education sector was noted by Emsisoft to have been impacted by 89 ransomware attacks last year, the most notable of which was the attack against the country's second-largest school district, the Los Angeles Unified School District.