Global Cyber Attacks: Sota's Parent Portal Being Patched

Vulnerability in Microsoft SharePoint Server Being Actively Exploited by Threat Actors

- Sarah Koh

The School of the Arts (Sota) took down its parent portal for urgent patching on July 23 after it identified a severe server vulnerability that was being actively exploited in a global cyber-attack campaign.

In a message sent to parents via the Parents Gateway app on the morning of July 23, the school said: "We are taking this critical step in response to an active and severe vulnerability identified in the third-party server infrastructure supporting the portal.

This vulnerability is currently being actively exploited in a global cyber-attack campaign, which has already compromised organizations worldwide, including government agencies and multinational campaigns."

The attacks started on July 18, and are specifically targeting school-managed installations, Sota said in its message. The third-party service provider is aware of these reports concerning its server customers, said the school.

"To safeguard our systems and data against this critical threat, we are initiating an immediate and mandatory patching process for all school-managed servers that support our parent portal," Sota said in the message. "We are working diligently to complete the patching and restore full service as quickly and safely as possible."

In response to queries from The Straits Times, a Sota spokeswoman said the school has not identified any compromises to its systems.