Schools return online after anti-virus alert investigation

East Lothian schools are back online after an investigation into anti-virus alerts on our education network has concluded that systems are secure.

Schools were taken offline as a precautionary measure on Monday 10 November to maintain the system's integrity in response to a series of anti-virus alerts. IT security officers worked closely with the Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre, the national agency for cyber security, and other partners to carry out forensic analysis of the alerts and affected devices. Suppliers and national agencies including Department for Work and Pensions and Education Scotland were kept informed throughout.

Business continuity

Chromebooks were re-enabled on a school-by-school basis on Wednesday 11 November offering connection to key education sites including Google classroom. Schools used established business continuity plans to continue learning while windows devices were unavailable while facilities teams and other services moved to manual processes.

The investigation concluded that there was no infiltration of systems and our data remains secure. Schools were brought back online on Thursday 13 November.

Safe and secure

Our Chief Executive Laurence Rockey praised all of the teams involved, saying: “We take the security of our systems and the information they hold incredibly seriously. Our safeguards have done exactly what they are intended to do by detecting a potential threat; officers have then worked at speed to respond, maintain the integrity of our systems and carry out a robust investigation into the cause with Scottish Cyber Coordination Centre and other partners.

“This has been a cross-council effort not only in the response to the network alerts, but also to continue supporting children and young people to learn in schools.

“I’d like to commend all of our school teams, including facilities colleagues, families and learners for their patience and understanding while these investigations were completed. The confirmation that our network is safe and secure and a return to normal business practices will be welcomed by everyone.”

The education network is separate to our council’s corporate network which was not affected.