Hack attack school back open

A NUNEATON school was due to open fully for the first time in almost a month after a hack attack.

- By CLAIRE HARRISON News Reporter

The whole IT system at Higham Lane was ‘brought down’ by a serious cyber attack.

It meant the school could not reopen as planned on Monday, January 5 and many students have spent much of the past two weeks at home. But Michael Gannon, headteacher at the Shanklin Drive-based school, said the school would reopen to all pupils on Monday, January 19.

The impact of the cyber attack is still being felt. Phone lines are still down, teachers have limited access to IT systems and the school canteen will have a ‘reduced menu’ and is set to be ‘slower than usual’.

The scale of the incident has yet to be revealed, with the school last week admitting ‘data was removed’. It was not yet known what data nor how much was taken by the hackers.

Warwickshire Police is investigating. Mr Gannon said: "I continue to attend regular meetings with the Department for Education, the police and external cyber security experts.”