Virtual learning in Miami-Dade halted by cyberattack, glitch

MIAMI – A cyberattack and a software glitch plagued Florida’s largest school district during the first two days of its virtual start to the school year, officials said Tuesday.

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said during a news conference that the district suffered a distributed denial of service attack Monday morning as a software glitch blocked access to the district’s servers, the Miami Herald reported. The glitch and DDoS attack rendered multiple online school district features useless and teaching nearly impossible.

The FBI and Secret Service have been called in and subpoenaed the school district’s internet provider, Carvalho said. He added that the glitch has been completely resolved and optimized.

Whoever conducted the cyberattack did not hack in or penetrate district servers, officials said. It wasn’t known who initiated the attack, but Carvalho said he wants them prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.