While declining to answer questions from the media on a cyber incident this month, the director of education with the Rainbow District School Board provided an update to trustees Feb. 18, saying the situation is under assessment by cyber security experts.
“Assessing the impact includes determining whether any sensitive data may have been compromised,” Bruce Bourget said.
“This analysis takes time, but it is progressing well and we will certainly share more information with our staff, students, parents/guardians, the media and the community in the coming days. We thank you for your patience as we work through that.”
On Feb. 7, when the cyber incident first came to the board’s attention, an update on the board’s website said “at this time, there is no indication that any personal information has been compromised.”
Sudbury.com requested to speak to Bourget about the cyber incident following this week’s meeting, which we attended in-person, but a spokesperson declined our request.
“There will be no opportunity for media interviews following the remarks as the information available at this time will have been shared,” the spokesperson said in an email sent prior to the meeting.
Bourget also made it clear during his presentation to the board that he would not be speaking to the media about the matter.
“This is the information that we can share with the media at this time, and with great respect, for this reason, I'll not be answering questions after the meeting,” he said. “More information will come in a timely manner.”
We also asked Rainbow board chair David Farrow following the meeting if he was able to speak to us on the cyber incident, but he also declined.
Following the meeting, Sudbury.com emailed the Rainbow board a list of questions that were not answered in the course of Bourget’s presentation. As of this article’s publication, the board has still not answered these questions.
That includes a description of the cyber incident, if a ransom demand was made, as happened during the 2024 cyber incident at Laurentian University, what cyber security consultant they’re working with, and if any systems are still down, among other questions.
Bourget provided a rundown of what happened during the board’s recent cyber incident during the Feb. 18 meeting.
He said that as the work day began Feb. 7, technical difficulties emerged, and information services took immediate measures to protect the board’s network while they investigated.
Out of an "abundance of caution,” internet access was turned off to all schools and the board office by mid-morning that day, although schools remained open.
Teachers and students were forced to make do without the internet for several days due to the cyber incident.
“Our first line of defense in the event of a possible cyber incident is containment, and that was achieved by shutting down the network,” Bourget said.
“By mid-afternoon, we established and confirmed publicly that we were dealing with the cyber incident. We also engaged the services of cyber security experts to assist us. To this day, our network continues to be monitored for unauthorized access around the clock.”
Over that weekend, staff worked to get school phone lines back up and running, and after that, staff worked on getting internet services back.
“They brought one school online, ran a successful test, and were able to bring all schools online by mid-afternoon on Wednesday, Feb. 12,” Bourget said.
Internet access for students was brought back online Friday, Feb. 14, one week after the cyber incident began. “As you know, some of our students require assistive technology for learning,” Bourget said.
He praised the board’s staff for getting IT services back up and running within a week.
“As you can appreciate, our network of schools and offices is complex,” Bourget said. “Our computer network, therefore, is equally as complex, if not more. It's not as simple as turning the lights on. Restoring services is thoughtful, methodical, intricate work.”
He said he’d also “sincerely like to thank” students, parents, guardians and staff for their ongoing patience and understanding.
“Our staff has proven once again that they have the adaptability when required to exercise,” he said.
“Our educators had to adjust lessons while we worked to restore connectivity, and we thank them for their patience as well.
“Our superintendents were in schools throughout the week. We had regular contact with our administrators, and I can tell you, the level of engagement, interaction and dialogue was high. That's also a credit to our students, who have shown that they, too, can be flexible and adaptable when required to do so, which are all good skills to have.”
He said he’s grateful the board was able to resume operations as quickly as possible. “As you know, organizations are becoming victims of cyber incidents more and more often,” Bourget said. “It's quite prevalent.”
Bourget said the board will continue to provide updates when it has more information to share.
“Updates will be shared with staff, students, parents and guardians and the media, and be posted on rainbowschools.ca,” he said.
Rainbow board chair David Farrow also spoke about the cyber incident during the meeting.
“On behalf of the trustees, I would like to begin to extend a sincere thank you to director Bourget, superintendent Guilbault, and the entire tech team for restoring internet access to the schools and the board office as quickly as possible,” Farrow said.
“Through their collective efforts, staff and students were able to resume use of technology for teaching and learning last week, and I know you've all been working very hard to respond to the cyber incident, and we absolutely appreciate your efforts very much.”
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.