Fall River Public Schools actively investigating cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to parts of the district’s internal network

FALL RIVER — Superintendent Dr. Tracy Curley reports that Fall River Public Schools are actively investigating a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to parts of the district’s internal network.

The issue came to light on Monday, April 7, when Chief Information Officer Scott Cabral identified suspicious activity indicating that an unauthorized party had accessed sections of the district’s internal systems.

Upon discovery of the issue, IT staff immediately took action to contain the situation, and began working with third-party cybersecurity experts and law enforcement to investigate and respond to the intrusion.

At this time, there is no evidence that any student or staff personal data was accessed or misused. If it is determined that anyone’s personal information was accessed or misused, those individuals will be notified.

The district is continuing to work with third-party cybersecurity experts to conduct a thorough, forensic investigation into what happened, and IT staff have already begun strengthening systems to prevent future incidents.

“While it appears no personal data was accessed during this incident, I want to assure everyone in the Fall River Public Schools community that we take cybersecurity and the protection of students’ and staff members’ personal data extremely seriously,” said Superintendent Curley. “Our investigation into this incident remains ongoing, and we will provide additional updates as appropriate.”