Lassen college victim of cyber attack; FRC fine thus far
Cyber criminals attacked Lassen Community College’s email system, but thus far Feather River College has escaped the same fate.
Trevor Albertson, the college’s interim president, acknowledged the attack Thursday afternoon after our sister website, Lassen News, asked him about an undeliverable email it had sent to him.
“We’re under cyber attack, and we’re responding appropriately,” Albertson said. “Our email isn’t working right now.”
Albertson said he couldn’t comment further because he didn’t want to say anything that might affect the ongoing investigation into the attack.
The president did say local and federal law enforcement officers are “working hard to resolve this. I can’t speculate right now, but I can tell you this is not fun.”
Albertson said the attack began the afternoon of Tuesday, Jan. 26, and at least three other schools in the California Community College system have suffered similar attacks.
According to the California Community Colleges Information Security Center website, there has been a recent rise in the number of “ransomware attacks on higher education institutions.”
Feather River College President Kevin Trutna said that when he learned of the attack on Lassen he talked to FRC’s IT department to ensure that information was backed up and to be on heightened alert. Staff and teachers were also instructed not to open questionable emails or attachments.
