Passwords across the council’s schools and early years network have had to be re-set after the local authority was hit by a suspected cyber attack.

This afternoon, the City of Edinburgh noticed some unusual e-mail activity on its schools and early years IT network. As a precautionary measure, it has reset passwords across its schools and early years network - including those of learners and students.

The local authority has now issued communications to all parents/carers and schools to advise of the phishing attempt and explain the action it has taken to ensure its IT networks remain secure and protected.

Schools and early years staff will be prompted to reset their own password on their return to school.

Students currently sitting exams will be given priority support to reset their password. They can access their personal revision materials by going to their school tomorrow (Saturday, May 10) between 10.15am -12 noon and a member of staff will issue them with a new password.

Study resources are also available on the information for parents/carers webpage on the Council’s website.

The City of Edinburgh Council was the target of a phishing scam today, Friday, May 9. | panuwat - stock.adobe.com

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Education, Children and Families Convener Councillor James Dalgleish said: “This afternoon vigilant colleagues noticed some unusual and suspicious activity on our schools and early years IT network.

“As a result, we took the precautionary decision to immediately reset passwords for all users across our education service. We have contacted all parents, carers and schools to update them and explain the situation.

“I fully appreciate the impact this will have, particularly on those students preparing for their exams next week – but, unfortunately, we had no choice. This was a difficult but necessary decision to ensure our networks remain secure and protected.

“I want to reassure our students that they are our priority and that we are doing everything we can to make sure they can get back online as soon as possible. In the meantime, we are signposting them study support materials available elsewhere and individual schools will be uploading these to their websites too.

“We have created a dedicated webpage on the council website and will update this with further information as and when we get it. I’d like to thank colleagues for their vigilance and quick thinking today – and for their ongoing work over the weekend to minimise the impact on our students and their families.”

The council added that no data has been compromised. And it has been in touch with SQA and EIS to make them aware of this attempted phishing incident. It is also keeping Scottish Government’s cyber co-ordination centre updated.

Edinburgh schools cyber attack: City schools targeted in phishing scam ahead of exams