Springfield Public Schools in Massachusetts said on 9 October that the cyberattack first detected around 4 September — which took computers, email, phones and vital records offline and forced a week of cancelled classes — compromised the Social Security numbers of employees hired before 2008, former staff who worked in 2009 or earlier, volunteers who assisted in 2001 or earlier, and long-serving independent contractors. Assistant Superintendent Jose Escribano said SSNs of staff hired after 2008 are believed to be protected and students should not be affected because the schools do not routinely record their numbers; investigators are still working out which former-employee and volunteer records included SSNs. Identity-theft and credit-monitoring services through IDX, initially offered to current staff, have been extended to former employees and volunteers. Of more than 20,000 staff and student laptops requiring secure rebuilds, about 65 per cent of staff machines are restored. The FBI, Massachusetts State Police and local police are investigating; officials describe the attackers only as a sophisticated global organisation, and no group claim or ransom detail is public.

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