Spate of ransomware attacks on German-speaking schools hits another in Switzerland

The growing menace of cyberattacks impacting German-speaking educational institutions in Europe has hit a vocational school in Switzerland whose specialisms include nursing and construction.

The Vocational Training Center, or Berufsbildungszentrum (BBZ), in the canton of Schaffhausen became the victim of a ransomware attack earlier this month, the canton’s department of education announced on Monday.

“When attacking the BBZ’s IT systems, cybercriminals blocked access to several systems and demanded a ransom. The attack was carried out using encryption malware on the BBZ servers,” stated the department, adding that it did not respond to the ransom demand.

According to the official release, access was initially gained through “a security gap in the firewall” and the school’s IT specialists alongside those from the canton — the local authority — “immediately” responded to “ward off and contain the attack.”

Officials are continuing to investigate whether any personal information was stolen in the attack. The school has around 1,800 apprentices and students studying a range of professions and courses, as well as about 170 employees.

The BBZ stated it has “informed employees, parents, trainees and training companies about the cyberattack. School lessons will take place as normal after the fall break.”

The canton of Schaffhausen is the northernmost point in Switzerland, with the town itself on the banks of the Rhine about 50km north of Zurich.

The ransomware attack on the BBZ follows another on the University of Zurich, Switzerland’s largest university, last year that was described as “part of a current accumulation of attacks on educational and health institutions.”

The wave of hacks targeting German-speaking institutions includes incidents impacting the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences and Hochschule Kempten earlier this year, alongside others affecting the University of Duisburg-Essen, the Harz University of Applied Sciences in Saxony-Anhalt, Ruhr West University, and the EU/FH European University of Applied Sciences.

Switzerland’s National Cyber Security Centre did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the apparent heightened threat level facing these organizations.