Parent of Springfield schools students feeling left in the dark over cybersecurity incident | #hacking | #cybersecurity | #infosec | #comptia | #pentest | #ransomware

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) – The second week of school in Springfield will be five days of no classes. Springfield Public Schools announced that on Wednesday students and staff won’t be heading back to campus until Monday following a cybersecurity incident that happened over a week ago.

It’s certainly a difficult time for the Springfield Public Schools district, but think about what an unplanned week of school off means for families.

One parent of two Duggan Academy students, Luis Baquerizo, told Western Mass News that even though his kids are old enough to stay home alone while he and his wife go to work — it’s certainly an inconvenience for parents who don’t have childcare set up, or who rely on the district to feed their kids.

“Nobody’s reached out and said anything as far as what, you know, what we can do as parents to make the tent that they’re now home to help us out. Not that we’re looking for it, but again, you know, it’s inconvenience. And some parents have to stay home. That’s inconvenience as far as they work, you know, putting food on the table,” Baquerizo said, “So, it’s a lot that we as parents have to suffer now.”

Not only is the quick change-up difficult, but Baquerizo said he’s still not one hundred percent sure what’s going on and if he should be worried for his kids and their personal information, “the fact of the matter is that communication is not there. You know, and as a parent, you like to know. Because how safe are they going to be when they come back? Is this going to be an ongoing issue? Nobody knows,” said Baquerizo, “I understand that it got their hands full. But we as parents also need to know why, how, and when this is going to be corrected.”

Of course, it’s not just about losing the school days and what’s to come, but the education of those 30,000 students is now being delayed even further, “The inconvenience for me is they just, right now they’re falling back on their learning, I think. You know, it’s a very important part of their lives, of which now they have to be accustomed to because it’s happened to them.

At 5:30 p.m. the Springfield School Committee started an emergency session to discuss the next steps of this cyberattack.