Dive Summary:
- Hackers launched a cyber attack against the website of the Northside Independent School District in Texas Saturday, a district representative told Education Week.
- Officials believe the attack was prompted by negative reactions to a pilot program using microchips and ID cards to track Jay High School and Jones Middle School students.
- The representative indicated that no confidential information had been compromised in the attack.
From the article:
"... The attacks are thought to be connected to a new pilot project that requires the 4,200 students at Jay High School and Jones Middle School to wear microchip-embedded student ID cards that can track their every move on campus. The controversial program has been attacked as an Orwellian breach of privacy, but school officials said the microchips are useful for tracking student attendance. Since Texas is one of the many states that use attendance-based federal aid funding, the microchips can (in theory) be used to identify students who are not in their seats during roll call but who are on school grounds. ..."