Schumer seeks federal investigation into nine cyber attacks at CNY Regional Information Center

DeWITT, N.Y. — The Central New York Regional Information Center (CNYRIC) has been the target of nine cyberattacks in recent months.

That’s according to U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.), who spoke Monday at the CNYRIC at 6075 E. Molloy Road in DeWitt.

The senator called on the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to “immediately” launch an investigation into the cyberattacks.

The CNYRIC provides technology services to the Onondaga-Cortland-Madison (OCM) Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) and its 23 component school districts.

Schumer explained that CNYRIC has fallen victim to nine cyber-attacks in recent months, impeding both students’ and teachers’ ability to access educational materials and forcing officials to devote significant resources to addressing the attacks.

“No data has been jeopardized” to this point, but repeated attacks could put “valuable student information at risk,” according to a news release from Schumer’s office.

“Central New York school districts have fallen victim to far too many cyber-attacks in recent months, potentially putting valuable information at risk, impeding our students’ ability to learn in the classroom and costing taxpayers significant resources. Fortunately, none of these cyber-attacks have resulted in a breach of confidential information, but they still must be stopped in their tracks,” Schumer said in the release. “That’s why today I’m calling on DHS to launch an investigation into these cyber-threats immediately and work as quickly as possible to get to the bottom of this matter. The feds should work hand-in-hand with local officials to figure out exactly where these attacks come from, help fill gaps in cybersecurity and eliminate these threats in the future.”

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com