Large Florida school district hit by ransomware attack

By TERRY SPENCER and FRANK BAJAK Associated Press
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — The computer system of one of the nation’s largest school districts was hacked by a criminal gang that demanded $40 million in ransom or it would erase files and post students’ and employees’ personal information online. Broward County Public Schools said in a statement Thursday that there is no indication that any personal information has been leaked and that it paid no ransom to the gang. The gang goes by the Conti and posted screenshots of its online negotiations to its website. The negotiations went on for two weeks with the hackers lowering their demands to $15 million and then $10 million. They ended when the district offered $500,000.