Ontario school boards learn hard lesson on cybercrime

An American has been sentenced to four years in prison for a mass cyberattack that targeted school boards across Canada, including Ontario.

Matthew D. Lane appeared in a Massachusetts court this week, where he pleaded guilty to charges relating to the cyber extortion of two companies. One was PowerSchool, a software and cloud storage firm used by school boards across the province. 

The cyberattack breached the personal data of millions of students and teachers, including names, email addresses, phone numbers and medical information. PowerSchool has confirmed it paid a ransom in the hopes of preventing any stolen data from being released, but the specific dollar figure was not revealed.

On tonight’s episode of Closer Look, we explore the recent surge in ransomware attacks, and how criminal hackers are using AI to up their game.

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