MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Public Schools released a new statement Wednesday following an outage affecting the district's computer systems this week.
The statement cites an "encryption event" as the cause of "technical difficulties affecting the operability of certain MPS computer systems." According to the statement, the district was able to "restore the MPS environment using internal backups."
While cybersecurity experts who spoke to KARE 11 this week said the outage has all the markings of a ransomware attack, the district has never referred to the incident in those words; however, in the new statement, the district did note that "MPS has not paid a ransom" and included links to resources to spot phishing attempts and other scams.
However, KARE 11 also obtained a slightly different version of the statement that appeared to be sent as a letter to staff and families, cautioning them not to pay a ransom, and that "the threat actors may contact employees or staff in an attempt to coerce MPS to pay a ransom."
District officials said the investigation so far "has not found any evidence that any data accessed has been used to commit fraud," but MPS will continue to work with law enforcement as authorities investigate.
Read the district's statement sent to KARE 11 below:
We wanted to take the time to update you regarding our investigation into the system outage we experienced, and to thank our IT Team for their tireless work restoring all systems over many long nights and weekends.
An investigation, with the assistance of an outside forensic investigation firm and legal counsel, has determined that an encryption event was the cause of technical difficulties affecting the operability of certain MPS computer systems. The investigation is ongoing. Due to the efforts of MPS’s information technology plan and implementation of secure backups, MPS was able to restore the MPS environment using internal backups.
Please note, MPS has not paid a ransom and the investigation has not found any evidence that any data accessed has been used to commit fraud. However, if the ongoing investigation indicates that personal information has been impacted, the impacted individuals will be notified immediately.
We are working with law enforcement and will continue to cooperate with authorities as their investigation continues. We want to caution everyone regarding the dangers of potential phishing events and other potential scams.
We thank the MPS community for its patience and understanding as we navigate an increasingly common and difficult event. We also remain committed to safeguarding the information in our care and will continue to take steps to ensure the security of our systems. By working together, we can help protect ourselves and our organization from future attacks.
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