The Urgent Call: How a Phishing Email Pushed Buckeye Elementary to Strengthen Cyber Defenses 

In our latest webinar, we explored real-world cybersecurity and online safety incidents, focusing on strategies that K-12 techs can use to prepare for hidden digital threats. Guest speakers Sal Franco, IT Director at Buckeye Elementary, and Fran Watkins, Technology Manager at Centennial School District, shared first-hand stories of ransomware and data loss incidents that tested their teams. They also discussed the recovery steps they implemented to strengthen their district’s defenses.

This blog post examines Sal Franco’s cautionary tale of a ransomware attack on Buckeye Elementary’s servers. We’ll walk through how his team discovered the ransomware, shut it down, and developed a robust incident response plan to safeguard against future cyber threats.

The Urgent Call: How a Phishing Email Pushed Buckeye Elementary to Strengthen Cyber Defenses 

Last summer, Sal was working on a project to gradually implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) across his district’s networks. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is a multi-step login process that requires account users to enter more information than a password. While Sal faced resistance from administrators, he was convinced that this additional security layer was necessary for the safety of the district’s data.

One morning, while waiting in line for a coffee, Sal received an urgent call from his IT coordinator, informing him that ransomware had infiltrated one of their servers. Perplexed, Sal hurried back to his office to investigate how the breach occurred.

After deep diving into his district’s systems, he quickly realized that the hacker had gained access to the one server that didn’t have MFA in place.

The culprit? A threat actor from the Russian hacker group, Akira had successfully deceived one of Sal’s colleagues into disclosing login credentials through a phishing email. ​​

Phishing emails often mimic school administrators, tricking staff and teachers into sharing sensitive information or clicking on compromised links. Once clicked, these inks can introduce malware that compromises district data.

While the hacker’s goal seemed to destroy data, their script ironically disconnected them from the network before inflicting any significant damage. Sal noticed this and was quickly able to disable the compromised account, shutting down the breach. 

In the aftermath of the breach, Sal’s cyber insurance team began to monitor all of their online environments for any further threats. Fortunately, no data was stolen, but Sal still had to reset all account passwords, review firewall settings, shut down the VPN, and implement a detailed incident response plan. 

After digitally surviving this experience, Sal finally gained full administrative support for stronger security measures, including full MFA implementation across all servers. This cyber attack also taught Sal and his team about the importance of network awareness—from firewalls to user account management. Now, he feels better prepared than ever, with a secure network and a robust incident response plan.

Why Are Schools Prime Targets for Cyber Threats? 

K-12 schools often need more resources, funding, and awareness for cybersecurity and network management. Many school district IT teams also lack staffing, leaving them without the appropriate headcount to continuously monitor their networks. When IT teams are understaffed, they often turn to third-party providers for cybersecurity support and monitoring. 

This is where the ManagedMethods suite of cybersecurity and student safety products can help! 

How ManagedMethods Can Help

Sal’s ransomware experience highlights the importance of why Sal now relies on Cloud Monitor by ManagedMethods to automatically monitor emails and suspend accounts, helping to combat data breaches, malware, phishing schemes, and unauthorized access.

Cloud Monitor by ManagedMethods offers school districts a cost-friendly solution for cutting through the noise and gaining control of what goes in and out of email platforms like Google and Microsoft. And, we’re offering a FREE email security audit. 

With this audit, you’ll be able to gain peace of mind over email security. Sign up here!