Holiday Break Starts Early as HSCDSB Closes Schools Amid Cyberattack

The local English Catholic school board's starting its holiday break early - because of a cyberattack.

The Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board says it's currently recovering from a "cyber-incident" that first came to its attention this morning, prompting them to immediately take steps to secure the board's network and retain expert assistance, with the board now "in the process of investigating and understanding the full impact of this incident".

It is, however, affecting the communication systems in the board's schools - including telephones and PA systems - so the board sent students home for the remainder of the day, cancelling classes for the rest of the week "to ensure the health and safety of everyone" - as the Christmas break was set to start this weekend, that means classes won't be resuming until the new year, on Tuesday, January 3rd.

The board's website is also not operational because of the attack, so it will instead be communicating with employees and families through its school messanger platform and social media, including Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

It also acknowledges the "significant privacy concern", vowing to provide updates and share more information when available.